Becoming the Enemy
by 8EternallyMortal8
Summary: Stoick is both a Chief and a father. After losing his wife to dragons and nearly losing his own life in an encounter with Drago Bloodfist, Stoick has dedicated his life to protecting his son and his village from monsters, but where does his allegiance lie when it looks like his son, Hiccup, has become one. . . . (Time Travel)
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everybody,**

 **So it's been ages since I wrote any fanfiction. For those of you who've read my stuff before, you'll notice that I deleted most of my previous works. I went through a rough patch where I hated absolutely everything that I wrote—and with good reason; it was terrible—but feeling like a bad writer didn't justify giving it up entirely. I've spent the last few years working up the courage to write my own short stories, but I have to admit that I miss the camaraderie of working with other young writers. I want advice and genuine critiques.**

 **All of that, and also the fact that I need an outlet for my fictitious obsessions.**

 **I recently went back and watched the How To Train Your Dragon movies, as well as the six seasons of Race To The Edge. Looking back, it makes sense that Stoick would be so concerned that Hiccup had an interest in dragons, and not simply because he thought of dragons as dangerous. He was trying to protect his son, both from the dragons and from the danger of becoming a new Drago Bloodfist.**

 **This is probably not going to turn into a full-fledged story, since fanfiction isn't my first priority, but I thought it would be fun to put this out there as food for thought.**

 **Edit: My sincerest appologies. I just realized that my line breaks didn't copy the first time that I uploaded the document. I understand if some of you were confused. Hopefully this clears everything up. Let me know if there were anymore problems with the chapter. (Thank you to Lightgiver for drawing my attention to the problem.)**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own the beautiful creation that is How To Train Your Dragon. I've never read the books, but I've heard that they're amazing. Having seen the movies, I have a monumentous level of respect for the writers and animators (seriously . . . Go watch the films again. When Hiccup turns his head you can see the muscles tense in his neck. You can watch his jaw clench and his cute little nose scrunch up in all the right places). Those were a labor of love which I can't possible lay claim to.**

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Part 1:

The scent of smoke clung thickly to Stoick's chief's cloak—a fresh reminder of the fires scorching his island. Here, in the darkness, he wheeled, looking for some sign of the smoldering village. Hiccup! He had been standing with Hiccup. His son had been muttering some nonsense about shooting down a dragon—a Night Fury, no less!

Stoick rubbed the bridge of his nose, scrubbing it fiercely and sighing in exasperation. That boy. . . . He would be the death of Stoick. Never listening. Always stumbling around, headlong into the danger. Just like his mother.

The chief blinked again into the darkness as his eyes adjusted. Trees. Hadn't he been in the village? The fires . . . The shouting, and-

His head snapped up to the now-empty sky. There had been a dragon—brightly colored and the likes that Stoick had never seen before—and on the dragon there had been a man.

"H-hello?" A voice called out from his left, somewhere in the trees. "Dad? Gobber? Anybody?"

"Hiccup!"

The boy stumbled into the clearing. From all around Stoick, groans and muttering followed.

"Hey, Babe." Stoick recognized the voice of his young nephew. "If you're feeling scared of the dark you can always lean on me. Hold my hand. I'll protect you from any big bad dragons."

A satisfying smack and a high pitched "Ouch! Okay, okay, sheesh." Preceded Astrid striding through the trees, Snotloud tripping along behind her. Stoick turned again. From behind a bush rolled the two bickering Thorston twins and a weary-looking Fishlegs.

"Chief?" Astrid asked, swinging an ax from behind her back and staring around wearily. "Where are we?"

"And what was that dragon?" Fishlegs asked almost reverently, his voice shaking as he stared into the sky. "You guys saw that, right?"

"Yeah, I thought it was going to torch us alive." Tuffnut commented calmly from where he had his sister pinned. "I mean, I'm pretty sure it shot me, but this can't possibly be Valhalla. Otherwise, why would _she_ be here?"

He gestured to his sister, who used the opportunity to flip him over onto his back and smash her head into his, shouting "Hey! What is that supposed to mean?!"

"I heard voices!" A deeper, unfamiliar call came from farther off. "Come! Follow me over there!"

"Um . . ." Hiccup backed up towards his father, staring into the woods. "Dad?"

"Get behind me." Stoick motioned for them to move quietly. He stood, tense and ready.

A group entered the clearing—men and women garbed in black, nothing visible but their eyes. One of the masked men stepped forward and held his torch in Stoick's face. He glanced behind the Chief at the group of young teenagers, blinking uncomfortably at Astrid's fierce scowl.

"Now how did all of you get here without our notice? You can't be here. This island's been set up for the annual meeting of the chiefs; no one else's to be here except with permission."

"The meeting of the chiefs?" Stoick scoffed. "Do you know who you're talking to, boy?"

"Not until you tell me." The masked men laughed.

"Show some respect." Astrid spat out the words, stepping from behind Stoick. "This is Stoick the Vast! Chief of Berk!"

The men around them froze, and then frowned, straightening and glaring hostilely. "How dare you?" The leader spoke. "Stoick the Vast died a year ago in battle. If you were going to impersonate a Chief the least you could do is pick a living one and not dishonor the dead."

Stoick choked on his breath.

One of the men whispered something to his leader. The leader nodded. "You'll have to come with us. This could be a trick, and we don't take kindly to tricks or traitors. You'll see the _real_ Chief of Berk soon enough."

The men whispered and muttered. They moved in towards the group. Astrid stepped out threateningly, but Stoick put out his arm to hold her back.

"Put the axe away, Astrid." He turned back to the man, arms crossed. "And who is this new Chief?"

"Have you been living under a Thor-forsaken rock?" one of the men called, laughing. "Who is the Chief, he says!"

"They call him the Dragon Master." the leader told Stoick as the men surrounded him and the teens. "He controls the beasts, they say. He rides a Night Fury—the last in existence. That which has been called the unholy offspring of lightning and death. All the islands are under this man's protection. And trust me," he laughed. "You don't want to be on his bad side."

Stoick's heart sunk like a rock into his stomach.

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Hiccup rubbed his eyes tiredly and sighed again, pushing himself up against his chair as his back popped and cracked. Discussion between the chiefs had only gotten under way a few hours ago thanks to Dagur's late arrival, but Hiccup couldn't blame him. The great King of Dragons that resided under Berserker Island had taken sick, and Astrid and Valka had gone to see what help they could give. The whole of Berserker Island had been thrown into chaos as hundreds of dragons had flown to the aid of the large king. Dagur had had to travel by ship to the remote island where the chiefs had annually agreed to meet, which took at least twice as long as it would have on a dragon. As the Alpha, Toothless could have drawn the dragons away, but Dagur had insisted he was fine, and by the time Hiccup received his terror mail, the Berserker chief had boarded his ship and was well on his way.

Hiccup stirred as the door to the large hall cracked open. A man in black clothing approached Throk, who was posted by the door. Throk looked up and met Hiccup's eyes, holding his gaze before making his way to Queen Mala's seat at the table and speaking to her quietly. Mala stood and raised her hand for attention.

"Excuse me." the Queen spoke, and a hush fell over the gathered Chiefs, "Throk has brought me some disturbing—albeit curious—news." She gestured to her head guard, and he stepped forward.

"I am sorry to bother you," Throk began, "but my men have told me that they came across a man and a group of young Vikings on the North side of the island. They seemed disoriented and uninformed of recent . . . events." His eyes locked with Hiccup's again. "The man claims to be Stoick the Vast."

Muttering broke across the hall. Hiccup sat frozen in his seat. Behind him, where the dragon had curled around the Chief's chair, Toothless lifted his head and warbled in concern.

"Hiccup," Dagur looked up at him, his face reflecting that concern, "Brother, you don't have to-"

"No." Hiccup breathed, his chest constricted. Toothless nuzzled in next to him, and the Chief placed his hand on the dragon's snout, smiling slightly at the comforting gesture. His eyes shifted back to Throk. "Send them in."

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"So," Stoick stared at the guards as they waited for their leader to deliver his message. "You say that Berk's Chief died in battle."

The masked figures stared evenly back at him. The Chief pressed his son and the other Vikings closer behind him and raised himself up to look larger. A hot coal pressed into his throat as he asked the next question.

"A battle against whom."

"Drago Bloodfist, of course." The leader had returned. "We will await the Dragon Master's word. If he wishes to see you, you will come without question."

Stoick breathed out slowly. It was as he had feared. History was replaying itself: he was here on the Island of the Chiefs with that mad Dragon-man. But this time, he had his son to think about. His grip tightened slightly on Hiccup's arm.

"Dad?" the boy whispered, staring up at his father.

"Chief," Astrid stepped forward, "Who is Drago Bloodfist."

Her words were a demand, not a question. She stood, eyes sharp with expectation. Stoick turned, ignoring the black-robed men and women. "Drago Bloodfist is a madman." Stoick rubbed tiredly at the bridge of his nose, then stroked his beard. "I met him once, years ago. He arrived at a meeting of the Chiefs, claiming that he could control dragons."

Snotlout laughed. "Right. Because one man could really _control dragons_. Honestly, this whole 'Dragon Master' thing sounds like one big hoax to me—something that these two knuckleheads would cook up."

He pointed to the twins who smiled at each other. "It's true." Ruffnut said. She high-fived her brother.

"Oh, we laughed, too." Stoick said gravely. His dark, musing tone quieted the younger Vikings. "Until he brought the wrath of a dragon down upon us. With that beast, Drago burned the hall down to the ground. I was the only one who escaped."

"So, this Dragon Master . . ." Hiccup stared nervously up at his father.

"Is Drago Bloodfist." Astrid finished.

Stoick nodded. "A ruthless, controlling madman."

The door to the hall opened in front of them, and out stepped a man with trimmed red hair and a close-cropped beard.

"Vikings," the man began. "I am Throk of the Defenders of the Wing. The Chiefs would like to see you."

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Hiccup stood close behind his father as they entered the hall. The twins shoved each other next to him until Astrid growled at them to stop. In the back, Snotlout clutched at a shaking Fishlegs, although Hiccup was sure that his cousin would deny it later.

Stoick stood in front of them, walking tall and tense, as he did in battle. He was weaponless, and although the men behind them had left Astrid with her axe, he wasn't so sure that would do them much good. Hiccup sucked in a breath and allowed his eyes to wander past the Chief and towards the hall before them.

At the council of the Chiefs sat some familiar faces—one that looked like Camicazi's mother, Big Boobed Bertha of the Bog-Berglar Tribe, now much older than the last time he had seen her—but there were other members at the table that Hiccup had never seen before, and based on his father's bewildered expression, neither had Stoick. A blond woman with short-cut hair gazed at Hiccup curiously from her seat in the hall, her black and golden robes giving her a ghostly presence in the dark, torch-lit room. Looking at the many faces, Hiccup caught the shocked expression of a red-haired man with a scarred face and half-crazed eyes, and at the end of the hall. . . .

The back of the hall was inky dark with night—a place where the torches didn't quite reach. There in the blackness, the light touched upon the outline of a man in a chair, his posture contemplative. From behind him, large green eyes glowed, blinking. The dragon's mouth opened, basking the room in the light of purple flame.

The Dragon Master stood from his chair, striding towards them from his seat of evil. The other Chiefs watched in silence as the man stepped out of the darkness, his Night Fury prowling behind him with a hostile rumble.

And then he walked into the light, and his rugged face had the tired look of a lost child.

The Dragon Master stared at Stoick in wonder.

"Dad?"

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 **There will be a Part 2. It's already in progress. Again, I don't know how far I'll go with this work, since the main part that I'm interested in writing is the upcoming interaction between Hiccup and Stoick. But I'd love to hear back from you guys, and if I have enough encouragement I might consider making it a little bit longer.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Alright! That was an adventure. . . . If any of you read Part 1 before I edited it, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize that my line breaks hadn't transferred over, and it's been a long while since I've written fanfiction, so I didn't think to check everything. Thankfully I was able to fix it without much of a problem, and I'll be paying more attention to that sort of thing from now on.**

 **Also, funny story: I was sitting in a park while writing this chapter, and while I was there I saw a little boy walk by who was the spitting image of what I picture seven-year-old Hiccup to look like, with his little auburn hair and his green shirt. So cute. And then I went to a music event where one of the bands played a song from HTTYD. Just thought that was a funny coincidence.**

 **Important : If anyone is confused about the characters and wants me to better define who is older vs younger, let me know. As it is, I believe that the story clarifies it well enough, but I don't want you guys to be confused. Let me know if you need me to bold some of the names in order to better distinguish them from each other. **

**As the story continues, I might develope nicknames to more easily identify the characters, but I want the story to follow a logical, realistic path. Since it's late at night and the characters are all relatively disoriented by the situation, I feel that having a "By the way, let's call older Hiccup _this_ and younger Hiccup _that_ " section to the story would be out of place and stale. I want the flow to feel human and non-robotic, but I don't want to confuse any of you along the way.**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own the world of HTTYD. I'm not nearly talented enough to be a part of such a glorious writing and animating staff. Maybe someday. . . .**

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Part 2:

Stoick stared, petrified, into the face of doom.

"Wait a minute." Tuffnut piped up from behind him. "Hiccup has an older brother?"

"No, stupid." Ruffnut rebutted. "We're in the future, remember? I thought you had figured that out by now. That _is_ Hiccup. Stoick is dead, so he's the next Chief."

"But that's a Night Fury." Fishlegs spoke shakily.

"Aha!" Tuffnut raised his first finger in triumph. "That's right! And the only living Night Fury serves the Dragon Master."

"Who is the new Chief of Berk." Ruffnut supplied.

"Hold on." Snotlout swung his arms out to stop all of them. "I thought that the Dragon Master was that Drago Bloodfist guy."

Tuffnut gasped and looked at Older Hiccup. "That's right! But that means-" He wheeled on Younger Hiccup. " _You_ are Drago Bloodfist! You have been this whole time! Oh dear, small, innocent Hiccup, how could you?! How could yoooooooou. . ." Tuffnut dissolved into dramatic sobs.

"It's ok, Tuff." Ruffnut comforted him. "We were all fooled."

"No, you muttonheads." Astrid's voice was weaker than she likely intended. She stared between the Hiccups, looking somewhat lost. "He's not Drago! He can't be Drago."

She paused, looking up at Stoick. "Can he?"

Stoick didn't answer. He was still staring at the image of his son, now seven years older. The boy had grown; although still thin in build, Hiccup was more muscled than before. His shoulders had broadened slightly, and the childish fat of his face had retreated to reveal a strong jawline, grizzled with a close-shaved beard. His hair was mussed slightly—braided in some places—and the young man wore a sort of dark, leather armor, decorated tastefully with the red images of . . . Dragons. . . . The older Chief's head and heart felt equally fuzzy and pained.

The Older Hiccup stepped forward, but halted when Stoick drew back, his arms out to shield the younger Vikings behind him. A strange warbling noise came from behind the Dragon Master's back, and the Night Fury poked his head out, reaching out to sniff Stoick and the others. The Vikings drew back again. Hiccup seemed to notice the teenagers for the first time and snapped out of his revere, pulling the dragon back and scratching under its chin.

"No, bud." Hiccup stared hesitantly back at his father. "They don't know you yet, Toothless. Just- Just give it some time. We don't want to scare them."

Stoick looked around and realized suddenly that the other Chiefs had filed out of the hall while his son's future self was approaching. Alone in the structure with this Dragon-man and his beast, the Chief of Berk felt conflicted and not a little afraid. The irony was not lost on him as he shielded the smaller Hiccup from his son's older self.

"No." Stoick spoke at last, grief in his eyes. "No, this can't- How? I refuse to believe that I would die fighting a mad man in order for you to become him."

"Dad-" the Older Hiccup reached out his hand, but Stoick took a deeper breath, angry now.

"How could you be so foolish, son?" His face turned red enough to rival his beard. "Dragons are the enemy. We fight them to survive. Did you learn _nothing_ from your fight with Drago Bloodfist?! Any man who tries to control those beasts becomes one!"

Behind him, he could feel the younger Vikings shifting nervously. The Night Fury gurgled sadly. Older Hiccup's face looked devastated in the flickering torchlight.

"I'm hallucinating." Stoick once again rubbed his fingers between his eyes tiredly. "Ah, Valka," he muttered, "If only you were here. Thor almighty. Odin knows I've tried my best to raise the boy right, but this! This can't be real. That blasted Dragon poisoned me or fried my mind, but I can't accept that this-" He gestured to Hiccup. "This _traitor_ is our son."

The dragon growled. Older Hiccup stared blankly at his father, looking somewhat broken. "You just-" he stuttered weakly. "You just gestured to all of me."

He blinked, suddenly snapping back into focus. "Wait. What dragon?"

"The one that flew over Berk." Astrid supplied. She stepped out from behind Stoick, gripping her axe, but as she stared at the Night Fury she didn't look quite as fierce. More . . . curious. Cautious, but curious. Stoick growled in protest as the young Vikings stepped out from behind him to gawk properly at the new Chief of Berk.

"This is some sort of joke, right?" Snotlout had found his voice. "This guy can't be Hiccup! Hiccup's all scrawny and lame." He looked over at the twins. "You two!" He pointed. "This is something that you rigged up, isn't it!"

Younger Hiccup and Older Hiccup both gave their cousin a matching deadpanned face. Toothless huffed in protest.

"Hiccup!" A voice came from the entrance to the hall. A young woman with blond hair and a battle axe strapped to her back rushed into the meeting room. "Mala and Throk said that-"

The woman stopped and stared at the motley crew in front of her.

"Is that-" Snotlout stared, enraptured by the beautiful Viking woman who was eyeing him in shock.

"Astrid?" Stoick heard his young son whisper.

"Gods." Older Astrid swore. Toothless warbled at her happily and bounded past the Vikings to greet her, nuzzling his nose against her hand. The dragon looked between the woman and her younger self and comparing their heights with his tale. Stoick stood in front of the younger Viking girl and batted the tail away, somewhat uncomfortable at how familiar the Older Astrid was with the Dragon Master's beast.

"Stoick." This new Astrid spoke blankly. She looked down at Younger Hiccup with his two intact legs, looked at Stoick's beet red face, and then turned to look at Older Hiccup. Her face softened with grief and realization as her mouth formed a little "Oh."

Then she looked down at something in her hand, and her face morphed and hardened.

"All of this will have to wait." The adult Astrid strode past the others and made her way over to adult Hiccup, Toothless trailing behind her. The dragon paused and sniffed at Younger Hiccup, pacing around him thoughtfully. The boy froze in distress as the other Vikings backed away from him and the Night Fury. Older Astrid ignored the interaction and stepped up to Older Hiccup.

"The King of Dragons." Older Hiccup snapped back into focus. "What happened? Is he okay? Did something-"

"The dragon is fine." Older Astrid reassured him. "I promise. Actually, more than fine. The King of Dragons is feeling much better. It was a sudden change; we don't know what caused it. But Hiccup, look at this."

She held out a playing piece from the game Maces and Talons. Stoick frowned. He had stepped between his young son and the dragon, and his attention was caught between protecting the younger Vikings from being eaten and watching the two older Vikings interact.

"No." Hiccup took the piece. "That doesn't make sense. We haven't- We haven't seen him since. It's been ages—years. I saw him- . . . He's dead."

"Did you actually _see_ him die?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Excuse me."

The two older Vikings turned to Fishlegs.

"Um," The Ingerman shifted nervously under their gaze. "Is that- Is that important? Because there was one back in the woods, too. Where we appeared."

He pulled a figurine out of a pouch on his belt. Older Hiccup and Astrid stared at him.

"Should I have mentioned it earlier?"

"No." Older Hiccup bent down and took the piece from Fishlegs, examining it. "You didn't know."

"Speaking of which," Older Astrid folded her arms over her chest. "You want to explain this to me?"

"Well," Ruffnut tilted her head casually and shrugged. "A man riding a dragon flew over Berk, blasted us with fire, and sent us to the future."

"Unless we're dead, or hallucinating." Tuffnut supplied. "But then we likely wouldn't be sharing the same hallucination, and I know this isn't _my_ hallucination. Adult-me isn't even in it, and there are no chickens."

"Riiiight." Younger Astrid gazed at the twins strangely. Then she looked back at the older Vikings, trying not to stare at her adult self for too long. "Now mind explaining some things to us? Like what those pieces are doing here and why they're so important."

"Wait," Older Hiccup held out his hand. "The man on the dragon. What did he look like?"

"Wimpy little beard." Snotlout mimed a small circle around his mouth. "Not very Viking-like, if you ask me. Dark hair."

"Ooooo! Oooooo!" Tuffnut jumped up and down. "And half of his face was all scarred and burnt!"

"Yeah." Ruffnut huffed. "Somebody really did a number on _that_ guy."

Older Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other. "Viggo." they uttered together.

Stoick frowned. He had never heard the name before, but it was obvious that it bothered his son.

"I just don't get it." Older Hiccup put his hand to his forehead. "Gah, I'm so stupid. I thought- But the last time I saw him, he saved my life. He sacrificed himself. He _thanked_ me."

"And then he disappeared off the grid, conveniently not telling us that he was alive." Older Astrid frowned and crossed her arms. She poked Hiccup in the chest with one of her fingers. "Let's not forget that the last time we trusted him he tried to use me to blackmail you into giving him the Dragon Eye."

Hiccup frowned and stared down at the pieces in his hands.

"What are you thinking?" Astrid asked him.

"The last time we ran into Viggo, he was working for Drago, whether he consciously knew it or not. He knows where the King of Dragons is, and by leaving this playing piece for us to find he's proved that he can get in and out of Berserker island unseen. But he has no reason to want the dragon anymore. Now that Toothless is the Alpha, it wouldn't do Drago any good anyway. And there's no way Drago's men would work with Viggo after he helped me escape. . . ."

"But the King of Dragons got sick." Astrid spoke slowly.

"And then he got better." Hiccup stared at her. Toothless crept between them and gurgled nervously.

"Hiccup, you can't seriously think that-"

"I don't know Astrid." Hiccup sighed wearily. Stoick watched the young man carefully. "I'm tired of fighting everybody. Maybe he really is evil. Or maybe he's trying to send us a message of some kind. Maybe it isn't even Viggo at all and this is all a trap—somebody trying to mess with my head. I just want a little bit of hope is all." He looked over at the out-of-place group of Vikings. "Look, we can deal with this tomorrow. Right now, I think we all need some rest."

Stoick nodded to the teenagers, and they allowed themselves to be led to a hut not far from the hall. He stared at this Older Hiccup somewhat oddly. Despite his son's questionable decision to align himself with dragons, it was clear that the boy was no friend of Drago Bloodfist. It also seemed that Hiccup had been through his own fair share of conflict. Stoick gazed over at the Night Fury. He was still uncomfortable with its presence, but he had seen how it nuzzled affectionately against the older Vikings. The beast had been drawn to the younger Vikings as well, but more out of curiosity, it seemed, than out of a desire to do harm. Stoick had never seen a dragon act in such a way before.

And he had also seen the clear hurt in Hiccup's eyes at Stoick's angry words.

Things were different here. Stoick didn't fully understand the situation at hand, but maybe there was still some hope. Maybe Hiccup hadn't become the enemy that Stoick had feared for all those years.

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 **Alright, so I was going to stop after this chapter, but I've sort of already started the next one, and I kind of like where this is going. Again, my main priority is to show the interactions between characters, not necessarily to flesh out the story, but hopefully along the way you'll get a good idea of what's happening. If there's any confusion, please let me know. I'll do my best to clarify in the future.**

 **Also, I've written the Twins in a more Race-To-The-Edge style. As they matured, so did their humor. I understand that they're a little out of character as a result. I've started watching the older shows since writing this and have realized that the younger versions of the Twins didn't actually have much method to their madness, but for the sake of this story, I won't go back and re-write anything. I like the closet-genius version of the Twins.**

 **Updates: My hope is to update this story weekly. Normally on Sundays, but I'm feeling generous tonight.**

 **To my Reviewers: Thank you so much for your feedback. I love hearing what you guys have to say. Questions, Comments, Concerns, and Critiques are all welcomed with open arms. I want to improve as a writer, and the best way to do that is to learn from all of you.**

 **Until next week.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Haha. . . . Um. So it's Saturday again, not Sunday like I promised. But I'm awake, and according to the oh-so-holy temple that is my body, I apparently can't not be awake at this ungodly hour. So I figured I might as well do something semi-productive. Also, I have something going on on Sunday, and I didn't want to post this as some weird time. . . . So instead I'm posting at some weird time on a Saturday. (What am I saying. . . . I just missed you guys.)**

 **This has to be my favorite chapter thus-far. I love writing Hiccstrid. They're so comfortable with each other and fun to imagine.**

 **Also, I know that this one's a little shorter than the last two chapters, but I feel like it ends in a good place and gives you plenty of food for thought. Besides, the next one will be a little bit longer, so it all evens out.**

 **I didn't worry too much about distinguishing names in this chapter because I don't think it's necessary. You'll understand why once you dig in.**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD. It belongs to Cressida Cowell and the beautiful people at DreamWorks.**

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Part 3:

"What are you doing?" fourteen-year old Hiccup whispered loudly. He tripped over dirt and caught himself against the side of the hut. Astrid glared back at him.

"Shut up or head back and stay out of my way." she snapped at him. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need more information. I can't just accept that you" She motioned to him. "turned suddenly into _that_."

Hiccup peaked around the corner of the building towards his older self, standing with the other Astrid and the Night Fury. Another dragon had joined them—a Deadly Nadder. The creature rubbed itself affectionately against Older Astrid's side as the Viking woman scratched its scales.

"Did she come back with you?" Hiccup's older self was asking. Younger Hiccup stared at the man, noticing for the first time that he was missing a portion of his left leg. He swallowed and looked over at the matching prosthetic on the black dragon—Toothless? Was that it's name? Hiccup's mind flew to earlier that night when he had shot a Night Fury out of the sky and down into the forest. What if-

"No," Older Astrid was saying. "She stayed on Berserker Island to make sure the King of Dragons was actually feeling better. After Viggo's calling card we didn't want to risk anything else going wrong. She should be there for a few more days at least."

"Good." Older Hiccup touched his fingers to the bridge of his nose—a gesture that the younger Viking had seen his father use when he was tired or frustrated, most of the time because of something that Hiccup had done. The Dragon Master sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Hiccup?" Older Astrid stared at him. Her voice was lined with concern. "Do you not want them to see each other?"

"Yes." the Chief responded. "No." His hands flew outward. "Agh! Why does this have to be so hard!"

Older Astrid put her hands on his shoulders. "Hey, just breath, okay? Look at me."

"I-" The other Viking looked at her weakly. "I don't know, okay? I don't want her to _not_ see him; I could never do that to her. They got so little time together, and it's not _fair_ Astrid. If it were you, I would want to see you. It's just, we're going to have to find a way send them back again, and I don't . . ." He trailed off.

"You don't want her to get hurt."

Older Hiccup nodded. Astrid pulled him in close for a hug.

"It's alright. We'll talk about it in the morning." He nuzzled in close to her and she put her hand on his head, lacing her fingers through his hair. "Hey, it's okay. We'll figure this out together, just like we always do."

And then she pulled him into a kiss, and younger Hiccup stopped breathing.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?" Snotlout asked casually from behind them. Teenage Hiccup and Astrid jumped at his voice, gaping at him. Snotlout looked around the corner and his eyes widened.

"WHAT?!" The girlish shriek sliced through the quiet night, no doubt waking any non-nocturnal creatures within a mile.

* * *

"Hiccup!"

Hiccup growled into his pillow where his face was buried under Astrid's hair. He blew a strand out of his eyes and sighed deeply.

"It's too early for us to have to deal with this."

"Hmmm." Astrid hummed contentedly against his chest. Without opening her eyes, she addressed him. "Who is this 'us' that I'm suddenly hearing about? If I remember correctly, no one's been running around calling 'Astrid!' into the Odin-loving heavens for the past three minutes. This is all on you, oh great Dragon Chief."

Hiccup tugged lovingly on a piece of her disheveled hair. "Thanks. Glad to know that I have your unwavering support."

"Mmmm." Astrid hummed again and snuggled closer.

"Hiccup!" Dagur burst through the door, wielding a Thorston Twin in each hand. "What are-"

Dagur noticed Astrid and stopped. The young twins, who had been shoving at each other from the Berserker Chief's grasp, also stopped. They stared.

"Astrid!" Dagur laughed nervously. "I am so sorry. I didn't know that you were back from Berserker Island. Thank you for that, by the way! We were so worried about the dragon-"

His eyes widened. "Oh! The King of Dragons! If you're here than is he-" Dagur cut himself off when he noticed Hiccup's glare and Astrid's sleepy eyes blinking up at him. "Right. That's not what I came in here for."

The redhead hoisted the twins up so that Hiccup could see them better.

"Where did these two come from?" Dagur asked him. "They look just like the twins, but they're small. Do the twins have siblings? Is this some sort of trick that I don't know about? Because they act just like them, too. Speaking of which, why did I find them in my hut this morning, laying booby traps?"

Dagur looked back down at them again. "Maybe the twins hired them. I'd heard that they were looking for some understudies. Some nonsense about all the world being a stage. Whatever that means."

"Dagur-" Hiccup began tiredly.

"Right." The Berserker Chief moved to back out of the room.

"Hold up!" Tuffnut held out his hands dramatically. He and Ruffnut had been staring between each other and the pair of sleepy Vikings. "We heard some things last night about the two of you."

Ruffnut piped in, "From an only _mostly_ unreliable resource."

"And I have to say, we didn't believe most of what we heard." her brother continued. "But _this_. For shame, Hiccup. And here we were thinking you were oh so innocent."

Dagur frowned down at them, missing Hiccup's half-lidded, very much unamused expression. Dagur looked between the bed and the twins.

"What? No." The Berserker frowned deeper. "They're married. Do you guys not know _anything_?"

The twins blinked, and then burst into laughter.

"Oh my gods." Tuffnut wiped away tears from his eyes. "I want to tell him. I want it to be me."

"Oh, no." Ruffnut shoved him. She smiled evilly. "We're doing this together. You saw his face last night when he thought they were just dating. When Snotlout finds out, he's going to blow a fuse!"

"What's blowing a fuse?" Dagur hoisted the two of them to eye-level. Tuffnut shrugged. "I don't know." he said thoughtfully, eyeing his sister. "But it sounded cool." He grinned. "We should use that one more often."

"Alright! Enough!" Hiccup pulled himself up and halfway out of bed. "Everybody out!"

Dagur laughed nervously again. "Right. Sorry, brother."

"Bye H." Tuffnut called calmly as he was dragged out of Hiccup's hut, "Mrs. H."

The door slammed shut. Hiccup groaned, grinding the heels of his palms into his eyes. Astrid gave a small, sleepy laugh, turned over, and buried herself deeper under the covers.

* * *

"Viggo?" Dagur asked, his face taking on an odd expression. "You're sure?"

"That's what we think." Hiccup told him. "Or someone who wants us to think it's Viggo. Whoever it was left behind game pieces from Maces and Talons."

Dagur frowned again. "I never really did like that guy. He never shared his plans with the rest of us. Always insisted that _he_ had to be in charge. Played too many useless games. Not enough Berserker spirit for my taste."

"WHAT?!" Snotlout's shrill scream echoed across the island for the second time in twenty-four hours.

"Is that what woke me up last night?" Dagur asked once he and Hiccup had finished laughing. "Snot-hat sounds so womanly. I never would have guessed."

The Berserker paused when he saw Hiccup's downcast face. The boy was fiddling with one of the buttons on his armor—the one emblazoned with a red dragon.

"Hiccup? Is something wrong?"

The dragon trainer sighed. "I guess. It's just, my dad said something last night, and I've been thinking a lot about it. He made it sound like I- I don't know, like I was the next Drago Bloodfist."

"Hey, woah woah woah." Dagur stepped in front of Hiccup and looked him in the eyes. "You and I both know how proud Stoick was of you. You didn't always see it, but whenever he was there, watching you take charge, I could see it shining in his eyes."

"I know, Dagur." Hiccup smiled sadly. "Thanks. The thing is, it all makes sense now, how my dad acted when I was in the arena and I wouldn't kill the Monstrous Nightmare. For years I thought that he was just angry at the dragons for taking away my mom, but I think now, looking back, he was also scared that he was staring at the younger version of the man who used a dragon to murder an entire generation of Chiefs. I mean, I threw away my Viking helmet and told the dragon 'I'm not one of them.' I'm sure he must have had a heart attack up there watching me."

The two of them shifted slightly from where they leaned against to side of the meeting hall as heads poked out of the other Chief huts all across the island. The hive-like buzz of confused muttering nearly covered the morning sounds of birds and Terrible Terrors. Hiccup sighed.

"I'm going to have to explain all of this, aren't I?"

Dagur put his hand on the young man's shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll help." He looked out across the island. "This sure would be a lot easier if you had the other dragon riders here to help you."

"Yeah," Hiccup muttered, "But I needed them back on Berk to take care of things while I was gone. And mom's still with the King of Dragons making sure it doesn't relapse. At least I have you and Astrid here."

"Two Astrids, actually."

Hiccup and Dagur turned to once again find Tuffnut and Ruffnut staring up at them.

"You might want to check on Snotlout." Ruffnut commented casually.

"Hah, yeah." Tuffnut laughed. "He's in a fetal position, repeating 'It's all a dream' over and over again. As if that'll help. I think we broke him."

Hiccup took in a deep breath and resigned himself to a long, long day.

* * *

 **To my Reviewers: Gosh, I love you guys. You really keep me going. I feel so motivated to write when I receive so many positive responses. But remember, I'm open to critiques, too. I want to get better, and the only way that will happen is if I know what you like about my writing and which parts of it need work.**

 **Shoutout to FourthWallBreaker who has been previewing my chapters just to make sure they don't stink like Dragon Poo. All of y'all can thank her for giving me the confidence to post. My perfectionist tendencies tend to make me paranoid about everything I write.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Some of you may notice that these chapters aren't doing a ton to forward the plot, but that's mostly because I'm super focused on the interactions between characters. I want to try and make it as cannon as possible, and I think an important piece of that involves building the relationships between the older Vikings and the younger Vikings. If you guys want more action and less character development, just let me know. I love to hear from you, and I definitely want your critiques.**

 **Just a reminder: The setting of this story occurs during the annual meeting of the Chiefs, so it doesn't take place on Berk or on any other of the main islands. For the sake of this story I have created an island that they use as a meeting place for the Chiefs, but which none of the tribes lives on. Sorry about not clarifying that earlier. Hope that clears up any confusion.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I definitely don't own HTTYD. I'm not sure I'd be able to live with myself if I'd killed off Stoick. Then again, authors usually put the best characters through the worst pain.**

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Part 4:

Avoiding the other Chiefs was harder than Hiccup had thought it would be. Dagur generously offered to stay behind and field questions for him, so the younger Chief did his best to stay unseen and followed dutifully, yet tiredly, behind the twins and towards the hut on the west edge of the island. He and Astrid had taken the group of 'surprise guests' further outside of the main camp in order to raise fewer questions. Considering that all of the Chiefs were present the night before when the lot of them arrived out of nowhere, it probably wouldn't do them much good, but Hiccup had hoped it would at least buy him some time to come up with some semblance of an explanation.

Thank Thor for Dagur.

Hiccup shivered a little bit. Gods. He never thought he'd be thanking _anyone_ for Dagur. _That_ was going to be a little harder to explain to his younger self. ' _Yeah, haha, um. . . . By the way, that crazy kid who tried to drown us when we were small is now one of our closest allies. He's still a little bit insane, but it's okay! It's a good insane!_ ' Odin. It sounded crazy, even in his mind.

"Hey, look." Tuffnut's voice brought Hiccup out of his thoughts. "It's Mrs. H! Hi again, Mrs. H!"

True to form, Astrid was standing in front of the hut, axe drawn, looking ready for battle. Her hair was pulled back perfectly. The little skulls on her skirt sparkled in the morning light. She turned and gave Hiccup the fiercest look of exhaustion that he had ever seen.

"Haha." Hiccup laughed nervously. "I tried to tell you, didn't I? We should've stayed in bed this morning. But nooooo. The 'Dragon Chief' had to get up to stop all of Helheim from breaking loose."

His wife punched him lovingly in the shoulder—something that hurt more than Hiccup liked to admit—but he saw a smile creeping onto her face, and that made some of his own exhaustion disappear.

Inside the hut, there was yelling.

"Uh oh." Ruffnut sounded. "He's snapped out of it."

"He's resorted to violence." Tuffnut commented, posing with his fingertips steepled in front of him. His sister punched him in the face, and the two of them broke out into a fist fight.

"Right." Astrid sighed. "Did you want to-"

"AAAAAAAAAGH!" The yell of a frustrated fourteen-year-old Hiccup came from inside the hut. "GODS, SNOTLOUT, ENOUGH!"

Dragon-Chief-Hiccup blinked in surprise. "Did I ever really sound like that?"

"Oh, yeah." Astrid rested the head of her axe in the dirt and leaned casually on its handle. "That's your 'Snotlout has pushed me over the edge with insults' roar."

Hiccup scrubbed his face with his hands, brushing roughly against his beard. "Alright. I guess I'm going in." He looked back at his wife. "Wish me luck?"

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Just don't die. If you want a proper Viking funeral, we'll need offspring to fire the first arrow."

"Eh." Hiccup shrugged. "Give it a few months. If the baby's anything like it's mother, it'll come out shooting."

"And if it's like it's father, it'll fly out." Astrid smirked.

"Go put your feet up." Hiccup shooed her in the direction of the shade. "This might take a while."

He took a deep breath and strode into the war zone.

"-ot fair!" Younger Hiccup was facing Stoick and pointing at his cousin. "He started it. He's _always_ started it and I'm sick of it!"

"Right." Snotlout scoffed. "What are you going to do, shoot me down like you shot that Night Fury? Oh wait. You didn't. So there."

"Snotlout." Stoick admonished sternly.

"You're kidding me, right?" younger Astrid demanded in frustration. "Does it matter if he actually shot it down? He obviously ends up riding one."

"And considering its wounded tail," Fishlegs piped in timidly, "the likelihood that Hiccup shot it down is actually pretty high."

"Oh shut up!" Snotlout shouted. "It doesn't matter if any of this is real or not! Hiccup's the runt of the village and he'll always be the runt of the village! Even his dragon isn't good enough to fly on its own. It's missing a piece. Only a looser would get stuck with a dragon that can't even properly defend itself. And did you see his leg? Hiccup's not even Viking enough to become Chief without losing a limb somewhere along the way. How do you think he lost it? Probably some stupid accident in the forge. In fact, I'll bet he only learned to train dragons because Gobber kicked him out—refused to mentor him anymore."

He laughed slightly hysterically. "Am I right?"

All of the other Vikings had gone pale. They had noticed Older Hiccup standing in the doorway.

"What?" Snotlout laughed again. "Is there something on my face? Or behind-"

He turned around. The Jorgenson turned bone white. He looked like he was about to be sick.

The Twins stepped in behind Older Hiccup. They stared at the deathly silent Vikings.

"Woah." Tuffnut grabbed his hat, which was still spinning on his head from when Ruffnut had smacked him outside. "This is not nearly as hilarious as I expected it to be."

"Everyone sit down and cool off." Older Hiccup told the group. "Listen to Stoick. Snotlout?" He made eye contact with the shivering teenager. "Come with me."

"What?" Younger Hiccup asked. "I mean, don't you-"

"Just Snotlout." The Berkan Chief spoke coldly. The Vikings froze, then took their seats. Hiccup strode out of the hut, Snotlout following numbly behind him.

* * *

It took them a while to trek to the cove on the south-eastern side of the island. Snotlout had trailed along silently the whole way, which Hiccup was pretty sure was a new record for his cousin. But he also knew that it was only because the younger boy was petrified of what Hiccup would do to him. He had seen the pleading, terrified look that Snotlout had sent towards Stoick on the way out of the hut. Hiccup's shoulders slumped a little. That was _another_ conversation he wasn't looking forward to.

They reached a grassy cliff that overlooked the cove, and Hiccup stopped. He pointed.

"Sit." He ordered.

Snotlout, seeing that they were done walking, had regained some of his stature. He puffed out his chest and stared back at Hiccup, masking his fear with defiance.

Hiccup loomed over him. "Sit." he repeated, sterner this time.

Snotlout sat, and Hiccup folded next to him, swinging his feet (Pardon. _Foot_.) over the cliff edge and placing his head into his hands with a deep sigh.

"So . . ." the Jorgenson paused. "You're not going to have your dragon eat me?"

Hiccup sighed again and raked his hands back through his hair. He looked down at the glistening water lapping gently against the cove.

"Look, Snotlout, do you know the reason you're not here at the meeting of the Chiefs? That it's just me and Astrid?"

There was a pause, and Hiccup turned his tired gaze to his cousin to make sure that Snotlout was still there. The younger Viking straightened under the Chief's gaze. He had been nervously wringing his hands, but now his chest expanded again and his hands stopped twitching sporadically.

"Because you hate me?" Snotlout scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. "Because you think you're better than me? That I'm worthless or something?"

"What?" Hiccup asked. "No." Hiccup had forgotten how insecure the other boy had been at that age. He'd only noticed it later, when he'd gained enough confidence to look past his own faults and finally see Snotlout's. "You're not _here_ because I put you in charge of Berk as Acting Chief while I'm gone."

Snotlout gave him a hesitant, side-long look. He seemed genuinely surprised. "Really?"

"Yes." Hiccup laughed. "Snotlout, I trust you." He smiled sadly at his cousin. "And, I understand."

"You do?" Snotlout asked, caught off guard.

"Hey," Hiccup shoved him. "I grew up as the runt of the village, didn't I. Nobody ever thought I would amount to anything. Look at me now."

"Well, whatever." Snotlout huffed, putting his false bravado back into his voice and body language. "I'm nothing like you."

He looked back up at Hiccup and deflated slightly. "Besides, you can control dragons. You're married to Astrid. You're Chief. You have everything. I mean, I always knew you were the Chief's son, but I always sort of figured you'd get eaten or something. But if you're _this_ ," He raised both hands and gestured to Hiccup. "then that means _I'm_ the new runt."

"Why would you say that?" Hiccup asked him imploringly.

"Because that's what dad-" Snotlout stopped himself. His face became guarded. "Why am I telling you this? I don't have to tell you anything!"

Hiccup gazed back out into the cove. A group of Terrible Terrors was wrestling over a fish that had gotten too close to the shore and become breakfast.

"Snotlout, I don't control dragons, I just listen to them. I wasn't even the first one to ride them. Not even the first in our family. And marrying Astrid wasn't some master plan that I magically pulled together. You and I both know that she does whatever she wants. Nothing I ever said or did would have forced her into a place where she didn't want to go."

Snotlout smiled a little, though he did his best to smother it. Hiccup leaned back into the grass and stared into the bright blue sky. "Honestly, Snotlout, you're a great dragon rider. You don't need your father's approval for everything, and you don't need to prove to anyone that you're a good Viking, or that you're better than somebody else. So I grew up. . . . Well, so what? Does me being less puny and bony make you any less of a Viking?"

"Hey." Snotlout's chest inflated again. He perked up. "Hey, yeah! You're right!"

He looked at Hiccup, examining him. "Except about the bony part. You're still a pretty scrawny weakling."

Hiccup sighed and rolled his eyes, but a smile found its way across his face.

"Besides," Snotlout's gloating tone let Hiccup know that the boy's ego must not have been bruised too badly. At least, not that Snotlout would show. "Of course I'm a great dragon rider. Probably even better than you. Definitely better than those annoying Thorston Twins. And Fishlegs? Like he could ever be a great rider. I bet even Astrid looks up to me."

Hiccup just smiled and soaked in the sun.

"Alright. We good here?" Snotlout asked, standing up and brushing himself off. "Because if you're done I've got, you know, important stuff to do."

"But of course." Hiccup smirked, gesturing with his arms back the way they had come. "By all means, go on."

"Right." Snotlout stopped a few paces away and hesitated. "But, I mean, if you ever need to talk again. Like, if you need any moral support or wise council or whatever, I'm free anytime."

"Right." Hiccup nodded. "I'll take that into consideration. Any time."

Snotlout nodded and turned, then stopped again.

"Also," the Jorgenson commented. "Not that I'm totally lost or anything. Because I'm not. But which direction did we come from, again?"

* * *

"Why does he always _do_ that?" Teenage Hiccup kicked at the floor of the hut.

"It's just what Jorgensons do, son." Stoick told him. He took a deep breath in and out. "Look, Hiccup, you have to learn to control yourself. A good Chief can't afford to let his emotions run away with him."

"Great." Hiccup kicked at the floor again. "All this 'Chiefing' stuff all of a sudden. You're only saying that because you don't want me to turn into some crazy, dragon-loving psychopath."

The other teenagers squirmed. Fishlegs whistled innocently towards the ceiling, sweating bullets. Astrid ran her hand self-consciously over her axe blade, trying not to look at the Chief and his son. The Twins, however, were engaged in the argument. Hiccup was pretty sure that they were taking bets. Probably on how long it would take for Stoick to murder his son in order to avoid a dark, dragon-filled future.

"Aaaaagh." Hiccup growled again in frustration.

"Ooo! Ooo! Are you going to turn into a dragon?" Tuffnut asked. "Can he do that? I would love it if he would turn into a dragon."

"He's not going to turn into a dragon." Stoick protested.

"I wonder if baby H will be able to turn into a dragon." Tuffnut muttered. Ruffnut cackled next to him. Hiccup frowned and furrowed his eyebrows. He was pretty sure he had heard that wrong.

"Snotlout is just so- Aaaaagh!" Hiccup couldn't find the words.

"Yeah." Older Astrid leaned in the doorway. "That doesn't really change much over the years."

"Is Snotlout dead?" Tuffnut asked.

"Yeah," Ruffnut piped in. "Did Hiccup feed him to his dragon?"

Both Astrids rolled their eyes. Older Astrid pushed herself off of the doorframe and came to sit in the center of the room. She took out a stone from her pocket and started sharpening her axe.

"No." Older Astrid told them. "He did not feed Snotlout to Toothless." She scraped the stone against the metal. "Dragons don't eat humans, and even if they did, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't eat Snotlout. He tastes too . . . Snotlout."

"Don't eat humans." Stoick scoffed. "I've seen a lot of those monsters—fought them for years. Don't you dare tell me they don't eat humans. I've lost too much to believe a lie like that."

Hiccup thought he saw adult Astrid stiffen. Her eyes flickered to him and they made eye contact for a brief moment. She looked down.

"You'll have to talk to Hiccup about that." Astrid told them, staring down at the blade in her lap. "You'd be surprised just how little we know about dragons. And Hiccup? Well . . . He can be pretty convincing."

"The Twins said you were married." Fishlegs spoke nervously.

Younger Astrid eyed the woman curiously. Older Astrid nodded.

"He's not." Stoick cleared his throat and eyed his younger son somewhat guiltily. "He's not threatening you? With his dragons?"

Hiccup had stiffened at the question, but that was nothing compared to how the young woman reacted to Stoick's question. Astrid looked up at the Chief fiercely. The sound of rock against metal abruptly stopped.

"You must know by now that Hiccup would never do something like that."

Stoick straightened, making himself bigger. "The Hiccup that I raised would never betray us for the dragons."

"No." Older Astrid went back to sharpening her blade. "He wouldn't."

She looked up at Stoick again. "I think you'll come to learn that betrayal had nothing to do with it. Only compassion."

She stood up gingerly and swung the axe across her back. "It's a trait that's made him a better Viking than the rest of us could ever be."

* * *

 **So, watching Race to the Edge made me think about how the Twins develop** _ **so much**_ **as characters. They go from being these idiotic goofballs to being these closet geniuses who are good at art and are theatrical and dramatic and make modern day references that don't even exist yet in their time and are** _ **fluent in Spanish**_ **. I mean, what is this madness?**

 **Anyway, that led me to start thinking about the other side characters and whether or not they develop, and one of the hardest ones to think about for me was Snotlout. Because, on the surface, he seems to be the same, standard flat character I've always seen him as, but I actually think now that the way the writers handled him and his development was ingenious.**

 **Because Snotlout puts up walls. Of course we're not going to see a ton of development at the first glance, because he doesn't want us to. But the more I see him with his dad, the more it makes sense why he builds so many walls and why he's spent years mercilessly picking on Hiccup.**

 **Snotlout's always been afraid that he'll disappoint his father. He's insecure about himself, and so he reveled in the idea that Hiccup, his cousin, the son of the Chief, was nothing but a scrawny weakling. But then, Hiccup grew up and suddenly started doing all of these great things, leaving Snotlout feeling worthless. Snotlout has always had insecurities, it seemed—fears that he'll never live up to Spitelout's standards. But he's always had Hiccup to fall back on to make him feel better. Now, with Hiccup all grown up into a great hero and a better Chief, Snotlout can't make himself feel better by comparing himself to his smaller, weaker cousin. He has to learn to be proud of his own accomplishments instead of using everyone else as a measuring stick to determine success and failure.**

 **And Hiccup seems to be catching on to that, too. Which is one of the reasons he's so much better at dealing with Snotlout as they get older. They have more similarities than Snotlout and Hiccup were willing to admit as kids, but I think as they grow up, the two of them sort of form this silent understanding. Snotlout will always have his pride as a weakness, but at least Hiccup understands why his cousin acts the way he does.**

 **To my Reviewers: Thank you so much for all of the great feedback from the last chapter! I know that some of you are asking for specific moments in the story and are waiting patiently. Keep telling me what you're looking forward to. It helps me sort out what portions to prioritize as parts of the story. I can't promise that you'll get what you want right away, because I want the flow of the story to remain natural, but if there are more characters that you want to see or more specific moments that you want me to include, I'm more than happy to take that into consideration. Already your comments are helping to shape the story.**

 **Until next week!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello wonderful human beings.**

 **I'm going to be busy all day tomorrow and then stuck in a car on Saturday. I'm spending the next week and a half with family, so I have no idea what my schedule's going to be like. As a result, I'm uploading the next chapter today. I know it's early, but I'd rather update early than late. After this week, we'll hopefully go back to the normal Saturday update schedule. Sorry for being a bit unpredictable.**

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 **Do you know one thing I love about How To Train Your Dragon? The character development is so cool. In the first movie, the cast of characters is really just a bunch of teenagers, forced to spend time with each other because they're around the same age. Then Hiccup gives them the chance to ride dragons and suddenly they _have_ to get to know each other because they have to learn how to ride, and the easiest way is to do that together. Then they finally get to stop being that awkward group of kids who all get shoved into the same corner during holidays and dangerous bloody raids, and instead they end up being real friends-a tight-knit team of dragon-training warriors who know each other inside and out, and who would trust each other with their lives.**

 **Just some food for thought.**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't currently own, nor have I ever owned, HTTYD. Cressida Cowell and the staff at DreamWorks have my utmost respect. Unfortunately, I have to wait patiently for HTTYD 3 just like the rest of you. And I get to cry when it's all over, just like the rest of you. Darn.**

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Part 5:

Hiccup sent Snotlout on his way and strategically avoided the hut. Astrid found him slinking back to the Chief Meeting Hall. He nearly jumped out of his skin when she materialized in front of him, arms folded, lips pursed. Her axe glinted, freshly sharpened, over her shoulder.

"You have to talk to Stoick."

Hiccup's arms moved nervously, one hand picking at the button on his armor while the other fingered through his hair. Astrid reached up automatically and tightened one of his braids. He smiled a little at the action, then frowned down at his shoe. His wife cupped her palm to his cheek and interlaced the fingers of her other hand with his own.

"I know you're not comfortable with all of this right now, but I know you, and I know Stoick, too. Your father's confused and frustrated, just like you are. He's not going to stay cooped up in that hut all day."

The Chief let out an awkward laugh and looked into her eyes, smiling. Astrid was right. Stoick was going to take his broad-shouldered, recklessly bold self and burst through someone's door demanding answers at some point. Hiccup couldn't hold him off forever. The man was a Chief. He wouldn't like being surrounded by an island of Chiefs who were keeping him in the dark.

"I know." Hiccup sighed. He stared behind Astrid into the center of the small village where Toothless and Stormfly were rolling around in the dirt. A few young children—family members of the other Chiefs—were laughing and pointing, inching forwards towards the dragons before racing back to their friends. Toothless paused and licked one, eliciting a chorus of "ew!" and "gross. . ." from the collection of kids. He laughed. Astrid turned to see what he was looking at and smiled. Her hand traveled absentmindedly to her abdomen.

"You're his son." She spoke softly, gripping his hand harder and pulling it to her belly. It was too early in the pregnancy for Hiccup to feel anything, but he got the message. If it had been his son, perusing a life that had endangered the people that Hiccup loved. . . .

"Just, show him." Astrid entreated him. "Like you showed me. You know that he comes around eventually—that he loves Toothless, and all the dragons, just as much as you do. He just needs some time, and a sense of direction."

Hiccup shifted his weight awkwardly from foot to prosthetic, his thumbs smoothing the skin of the backs of her hands. "I know. I just- I'm not ready. Not yet. It's only been a year, and now all of this out of nowhere-"

"Hiccup!"

Toothless and Stormfly's heads had shot up. The Nightfury's ears twitched, and the children quieted, dancing with nervous curiosity around the dragons. Dagur raced into the center of the village. Frowning in concern, Hiccup stepped out of the shadows with Astrid close behind.

"Dagur, what is it? Do the Chiefs-"

"No no, it's not the Chiefs." Dagur rushed on, breathless. "I took care of the Chiefs. Explained everything. Actually," The Berserker grinned bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck. "They've sort of gone to see for themselves. But that's not the problem!" Dagur raised his hands and cut Hiccup off before he could interrupt. "Hiccup, you've got to come and look at this. There's, well. . . . He's here."

"Who-" Hiccup didn't finish his question. Behind Dagur, a large, colorful dragon swooped down from the sky.

"Hiccup!" the voice called down to them, "A pleasure to see you again!"

A man slid down the side of the long, brightly-colored dragon. The left half of his face was badly scarred with burn marks, and his left eye was an off-putting, milky color. He smiled pleasantly, his hands clasped casually behind his back as he approached.

"Viggo." Hiccup frowned. Astrid pulled her axe free from her back and wielded it threateningly. The Dragon Master put his arm out and met the blond Viking's eyes, and Astrid slowly lowered her axe, watching Viggo hostilely.

"Now, I know we're not on the friendliest of terms, Astrid Hofferson."

"It's Haddock." Astrid spat bitterly.

"Is it now?" Viggo smiled. "Fascinating. I always knew you two would do well together. In any case, I know you're likely hesitant to trust me."

Astrid scoffed. "The last time you were this close to me, you were holding my own axe to my neck, threatening my husband that if he didn't give you what you wanted you would slit my throat. Not exactly the most welcoming of memories."

"No." Viggo agreed. "Surely not. I do apologize for that, by the way. Hiccup must have told you about the daring rescue I pulled to help him escape from Johann's clutches?"

"I did." Hiccup's voice was guarded. "Viggo, what happened? If you've been alive all this time, why are we only hearing from you now? It's been . . . _years_."

"For you maybe, yes." Viggo's eyebrows raised knowingly. "But for me it's been mere weeks, at most." He patted the head of the dragon next to him, which rubbed against Viggo affectionately.

"Time travel."

"Yes." Viggo hummed. "This dragon swooped in and saved me at the last moment, brought me to a safe place and let me heal. He seems to have recruited me for his own personal mission. You see, his mate was captured by an old enemy of yours. A man whom I worked for very briefly."

"Drago." Astrid's eyes lit up with realization.

"Very good, my dear." The man looked conspiratorially at Hiccup. "She _is_ a smart one. Well done, my boy."

Astrid's eyes narrowed again, and she hefted her axe.

"Wooohoohoo, okaaaay!" Hiccup flailed his arms awkwardly between the two of them, trying to keep the peace. "Let's not rush into anything here, shall we."

The Chief shifted his gaze back to Viggo. "So Drago has this dragon, but it still doesn't explain what he's doing with it, or why I have a load of half-sized Viking miniatures staying in a hut on The Island of the Chiefs."

"Of course, Hiccup. I do promise that I was getting to that. This species of dragon was previously undiscovered, as far as I am aware. I tried my hand at your little naming game and decided to call it the Time Breaker."

Hiccup lowered his arms, and Astrid's grip on her axe loosened.

"Drago procured this one's mate after his loss against you and your Night Fury." Viggo continued. "It seems that he's learned how to control the beast, and he's taking it on a tour through your timeline, doing his best to destroy you before you can stand in his way."

"And you know this how?" Astrid asked suspiciously.

"My dear Astrid," the man spoke condescendingly, "did I not tell you that I was helping this dragon to find his mate? We've been tracking this other Time Breaker through your history, catching Drago off guard and doing our best to stop his plans before they can happen. Actually, I've gotten to know you two quite well along the way."

"And why don't we remember any of this?" Hiccup asked him.

Viggo scratched his dragon under the chin. "The Time Breaker's saliva has an odd function that allows anyone who ingests it to forget that they've seen it, re-setting the timeline to its proper place. Of course, it can't bring a man back to life, so we've been doing our best to avoid any larger miss-steps through your history, but it does an astounding job of covering its tracks. You don't remember because you didn't want to. I gave the both of you the option of setting your timeline back to the way it was, and every time the two of you agreed that it was the best course of action."

"But the King of Dragons." Hiccup frowned. "Why were you there?"

"Drago's men poisoned the majestic creature." Viggo commented. "I was merely doing my part to help set things right. Besides," he smiled, "it was the easiest way to get your attention."

"And the younger Vikings?" Astrid asked.

"Ah." Viggo frowned. "Yes, well. . . . You see, Drago has caught on to many of the tactics that I initially used to combat him. He's changed his methods, and so I've had to change mine. In order to protect you and your friends, I had to remove them from the equation. Stoick, however, was not an intentional target. He was standing too close to your younger self, Hiccup, and was caught up in the Time Breaker's fire. I know it must be hard for you to see him again. I heard about what happened to your father during your altercation with Drago. For that I am truly sorry."

Astrid froze, his eyes widening. "Your father."

"Astrid?" Hiccup's tone was one of warning.

"Hiccup," Astrid turned to him, excitement dancing in her eyes. "We've found a dragon that can travel through _time_. Forget about your mother seeing _this_ Stoick. We can go back and save him before any of this ever happens!"

A hesitant hope flashed across Hiccup's face.

"I'm afraid it won't be quite as easy as that." Viggo mused, scratching at the scales of the dragon next to him. "When I said that the Time Breaker couldn't heal death, I wasn't simply talking about its saliva. After saving Hiccup I had a bit of a revelation. I began to feel some remorse for my part in my brother's death. Although Ryker and I have never been on the best of terms, parts of me regretted his death in ways I never thought I would. I coaxed the dragon into taking me back, but no matter what I tried, I couldn't save him from his watery fate."

Viggo raised his good eye to look at them. "You see, Hiccup, the timeline resists change. That's why it's been so easy to rescue you and your band of dragon riders from Drago all this time—because the timeline doesn't _want_ to be changed."

"Then why did the dragon save you?" Astrid asked bitterly.

"We can't all choose our fate, Astrid Haddock." Viggo leveled his gaze at her. "Sometimes we must learn to accept it."

"You know," Dagur mused from beside them, " _he_ makes everything into a production, too. This is why I prefer Berserker style. Less drama. More war cries and skull-bashing."

Toothless crept up behind Hiccup and Astrid, looking not entirely sure whether he should lick Viggo or shoot him with his plasma blast. His territorial growl morphed into a confused warble, and then a whine.

"I know bud." Hiccup hugged his dragon's head and rubbed his scales. "Me too."

Stormfly positioned herself protectively behind Astrid, responding to her rider's hostile mood.

"Speaking of making a production," Astrid continued in her suspicious growl, "why are you here? Why not just race over to the other side of the island, pick up the unexpected guests that you so pleasantly left us with, and then disappear?"

"Because," Viggo's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Drago has found a pattern to my movements. I have no guarantee that he won't target your younger selves as soon as I drop them off. And beyond all that, we need a better plan. I've taken control and swapped our roles. I used to be chasing him-"

"And now he's chasing you." Astrid's eyes widened.

"Did I not say she was clever?" Viggo smiled again. "Yes. That's correct."

"So Drago's coming here?" Hiccup asked. "When?"

"I'm not quite sure, but we have some time." Viggo reassured him. "It never took me long to catch up with Drago. Once the Time Breaker picks up the scent of its mate, it can transport itself to the location and time in which it believes the other dragon will be. But Drago isn't traveling by dragon, he's traveling by ship. He has the female Time Breaker chained to the deck. Torture is the only way he could get her to do what he wanted. Between his men and his ship, and convincing the Time Breaker to help him track my dragon down, I would say that we have a few days. In any case, no matter when he comes through, this dragon and I have been all over the Archipelago. I made sure to jump through to multiple locations, all within the last—and next—few days. These dragons can only alter time and space so many times before they grow tired, and Drago will most likely have to travel to more than one location before he finds us. That should keep him busy, for a time, at least."

Viggo cleared his throat almost nervously, his eyes losing a bit of their prideful spark.

"Speaking of which, and I do apologize for this, I ran into an . . . acquaintance of yours along the way. I tried not to drag her into all of this, not knowing your feelings on the subject, but I'm afraid she procured quite a bit of information from me. I see now where you get your persuasiveness."

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked, perplexed.

A great flapping of wings could be heard as a large dragon cast a shadow over them. Down in the center of the village, the group of Vikings found their hair tussled in the wing-made wind. The little children, who had backed away towards the structures around them, now re-emerged, pointing and shouting. Toothless bellowed a friendly hello.

"Hiccup, sweetheart." Valka called down sweetly from Cloud Jumper's back. "I think we need to have a chat."

* * *

 **So I know that lately the chapters have been incredibly Older-Hiccup-Older-Astrid Centric. I'll do my best to include the other characters as well, I promise. This chapter hopefully clears a few things up about the plot in general and sets the story on a perceivable path.**

 **Also, I recently stumbled upon an amazing examination of how Hiccup is left handed even though at times he appears to be ambidextrous. It gives me even more respect for the DreamWorks animation staff. The fact that they tell a separate story, just with the animation, astounds me and garners my respect. Fanfiction won't let me provide a link, but it's on Tumbler. You should check it out if you can. It's called _Hiccup's Hands-Left-Handed or Right-Handed?_ I'll be examining it a bit on my own in one of the later chapters of this story.**

 **If you can't find it, a summary of it is that Hiccup is left-handed, but he felt pressured to be right-handed by the other Vikings around him. In an effort to be more like his father and to be accepted by the village, Hiccup learned how to use his right hand instead of his left. Whenever he's alone and drawing in his notebook, he uses his left hand, but to avoid mockery, the rest of the time he uses his right hand.**

 **The rest of the post is in far more detail, and the author goes on to point out specific examples from the movie, like how when Hiccup was going to stab Toothless he used his right hand, but when he cut Toothless free he switched the knife to his left hand. There are so many more moments, and it truly astounds me how much time, effort, and love the animators put into this character.**

 **I also personally believe that Valka is left-handed, which is something not examined in the post. But in a portion of the comic The Serpent's Heir it says that Valka has a good left hook.**

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **You guys are incredible. Honestly. I'm so thankful for all of the support I've gotten; I'm super glad that you guys are enjoying the pacing of the story. Obviously this chapter moves the plot forward a bit more, but I'm thankful not to have any pressure to speed up the story to the end. I like having the room to breath.**

 **A lot of you will have noticed that I'm now answering reviews through direct messages. For those of you who are guests, I'm incredibly thankful for your reviews and am sorry that I can't message you directly. I'll give brief responses to you within the chapter.**

 **Ceo160:**

 **I'm in total agreement about Snotlout. He's so much more than just a one-sided jerk. As for Hiccstrid, I'll see what I can do. I absolutely adore Hiccup and Astrid, so it would be my pleasure to add more Hiccstrid moments.**

 **S.H:**

 **The Hiccups and Stoick will definitely start to interact more. I promise. As for the twins being fluent in Spanish, I agree, I have no idea how the Archipelago got access to so many languages. I think they're also learning French.**

 **Guest:**

 **I'm glad you're excited. :) I hope my future chapters continue to thrill you.**

* * *

 **That's it. Until next week. ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**So I actually have a decent wifi connection in this undisclosed location that I've traveled to with my lovely family. I didn't realize I'd actually be able to get online, and now that I know I can, I've been feeling guilty about making all of you wait until next Saturday for the next update. Besides all of that, I'm a couple of chapters ahead of schedule, so I'm updating today and then again next Saturday. I don't like getting too far ahead, because I want your input. I love the reviews that come in, and they do a lot to help me write future chapters and to reassure me that I'm on the right track.**

 **Also, on the way here I listened to the first How to Train Your Dragon book (by Cressida Cowell. You know, the ones that inspired the idea for the movies), and boy is Toothless different than he is in the movies. Still an amazing story. I actually think it's cool that the books and movies can stand on their own. I'm interested in reading the other eleven books. Also, the audiobooks are narrated by David Tennant. They're honestly glorious.**

 **I know that a lot of you have been looking forward to Valka's return. I can only hope that I did her justice.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't possess any rights to HTTYD. I can only claim this bizarre storyline and write vicariously through someone else's characters.**

* * *

Part 6:

Hiccup fidgeted nervously as he stood in front of his mother. Astrid had led the dragons out to the water to fish for their lunch, and Mala had shown up in time for her and Dagur to entertain Viggo. Hiccup had felt a little bad; he'd stolen Dagur for most of the day, and the first moment that he got to spend again with his queen was somewhat ruined by the presence of an old enemy. Fortunately neither of them seemed to mind. Mala had remembered what Hiccup had told her about Viggo saving his life, and although she wasn't apt to trust him instantly, she was open to the idea that the man had some good in him. Her husband, after all, had once been an enemy as well, and Dagur had come so far since those days. Viggo might not be much different.

Of course, that didn't mean he didn't feel bad. Dagur had spent the last month away from The Defenders of the Wing in order to take care of the sick King of Dragons. He was still Chief of the Berserker Tribe, after all, even if most of the time Heather functioned as his Acting Chief. Mala and Dagur hadn't gotten to spend much time together, and Hiccup was messing that up.

It wasn't the only relationship he was messing up, apparently.

He tried to bring himself to look Valka in the face and instead found his eyes glued securely to his mother's mask, which he gripped in his hands.

"Hiccup." Her voice was soft. She cupped his cheek and raised his head to look at her. He leaned instinctively into her touch and tried his best to swallow the guilt.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The floodgates of emotions opened, and the words poured out, cracking on his shaking tongue.

"I'm sorry mom. He's just- he's different." Hiccup ran one hand through his hair before his arms went unnaturally still, his shoulders jittering from nervous energy. "They're from before everything, from that night, right after I shot down Toothless. He doesn't understand any of it: The dragons and me and Toothless and everything. And I can't- I didn't think- I just, I remembered how you were when I found you and how you said he couldn't change, and now we're back to all of _that_ again. All of the dragon killing and the dragon hating. All of the _'No Hiccup! Our duty is to our people! You can't just go running around getting people killed off because you're trying to become an evil dragon warlord!'_ "

Here he stuck his chest out, and his arms ballooned outward to convey Stoick's girth as Hiccup mimicked his father. He deflated suddenly, his arms sinking to his sides. "And I get it now—his history with Drago Bloodfist—but I didn't want you to- I-"

"Shh," Valka whispered, "I understand, Hiccup. But I don't want you to go through it alone."

She wiped away a tear that he hadn't realized was there.

"I'm not angry. I just don't want you to have to be strong for the both of us."

He fell into her hug as she wrapped her arms around him, pressing him gently to her chest. Hiccup gripped her tight, still somewhat dizzy after a year from the fact that she was _there_. That this was her feel and her voice and her smell.

"Oh sweetheart," Valka spoke softly. "He can change. You know he has. You showed me that you were right about that. He just cares for you. Your father's scared, just like anyone would be—just like you are. Give Stoick some time. You know that he loves you, even if he wasn't always the best at showing it."

Hiccup tried to smother the little break in his heart when she said "wasn't."

He pulled back from her.

"You know that we have to send them home."

Valka wiped the last few tear trails from his face.

"I know." She looked infinitely sadder in that moment. An oldness settled upon her, and her shoulders slumped tiredly. "But it wouldn't have been the same, Hiccup. You know that." She straighten slowly and gave him a melancholy smile. "We can only thank the gods that they let us see him one more time before we join him."

"In Valhalla." Hiccup whispered. He and Valka stared at one another and embraced each other once again.

* * *

Fishleg's entire life had been dragons. He'd spent most of his weekends pouring over The Book of Dragons in the great hall, memorizing statistics and little-known facts—the kind that, in theory, at least, would keep you alive in even the worst situations.

But in all of his studying and fanboying, nothing had prepared Fishlegs for an adventure to a future when he would find himself stuck on an island _filled_ with dragons, many of which were unrecorded in the book that he had spent so much time reading and rereading.

It irked him a little bit that no one else was excited by this new learning experience. Not even Hiccup, who was supposed to grow up to be practically in charge of all of these dragons!

That wasn't fair of Fishlegs, he supposed. The younger Hiccup that he knew had probably never even opened The Book of Dragons, and he certainly hadn't met his Night Fury yet. Fishlegs would have to wait if he wanted a fellow dragon-enthusiast.

Trudging through the forest, staring down at a trail of little dragon footprints, Fishlegs fought down his urge to hypothesize about which creature they belonged to. He looked around to make sure that Snotlout hadn't followed him. Satisfied that the Jorgenson wasn't about to pop out from the trees and mock him for his geeky habits, Fishlegs allowed himself a small, excited squeal and trekked further past the tree line.

"Hey," Tuffnut's head appeared out of thin air, swooping down upon him from above, and Fishlegs squealed for an entirely different reason. The Thorston twin hung upside-down from the low-hanging branch of a tree, his nose nearly touching Fishlegs'. "What's up, F? I mean," He chuckled. "besides me."

"Yeah." Ruffnut commented from where she now stood at his side. "I thought Stoick told us not to wander off alone."

"Then what are _you_ doing here?" Fishlegs asked pointedly.

"Um, duh." Tuffnut looked annoyed and tried to fold his arms over his chest, but his hat nearly came off, and he had to grab it with both hands to keep it from falling to the forest floor. "We're twins." He gave Ruffnut a narrowed-eyed stare. "Even when we're alone, we're never alone."

"Tell me about it." Ruffnut scoffed. "I'm not exactly happy about it, either."

She punched her brother in the gut, and with a crash and an indignant "Ow!" Tuffnut found his way to earth. Fishlegs rolled his eyes and walked past the two of them, ignoring the cries of "I am hurt! I am very much hurt!"

It didn't take long for the twins to catch up with him.

"So," Tuffnut asked casually as he cradled his stomach, "what _are_ you doing out here?"

"Please." Ruffnut snorted and smacked her brother in the head. "Look at the tracks. He's obviously following a dragon."

"That's right." Fishlegs said, a little surprised.

"Ah." Tuffnut muttered thoughtfully, now rubbing his head. "A dragon. Let's follow it and train it! Then maybe _we'll_ be the Dragon Masters, and Hiccup will serve _us_!"

"No!" The Ingerman looked up from the trail and frowned indignantly. "We're not here to train it." he admonished them. "We're here to study it."

"Ew." Tuffnut jumped back, his nose wrinkling in disgust and his fingers bending in an offended flinch. Next to him, Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Boring." she droned.

"Well," Fishlegs stood up fully and stared at them. "It's either that, or go back to the hut and explain to Stoick why we've been missing."

The Twins stared at each other, then back at the portly boy.

"Right." Tuffnut stepped forward eagerly. "Dragon-studying it is."

Fishlegs sighed, but smiled nonetheless and followed in the Twins' footsteps.

They traced the trail of dragon footprints further into the forest and ended up near the Northern edge of the island, where they had appeared the night before. The tracks disappeared in front of a collection of bushes. The Twins adopted matching ponderous expressions, their hands cradling their chins and stroking imaginary beards. The two of them eyed the area and mused. Tuffnut picked up a stick and poked the bush.

Out of it flew a small flock of squawking Terrible Terrors. Fishlegs shrieked at the sudden movement and cowered. He opened his eyes and stared at the retreating forms of the annoying, yet relatively harmless, dragons.

"Aw. Terrible Terrors." He frowned in disappointment. He had been hoping for a new dragon species that he could discover, maybe even name.

Fishlegs looked over at Ruffnut laughing as her brother tried to pry one of the dragons off his face. He sighed. Maybe it was a good thing. He wasn't sure the three of them could handle finding a new dragon all on their own.

Off to the left, the trees bent in a sudden gust of wind. Fishlegs froze. "Did you hear that?" he asked, moving to his feet.

The Thorstons froze. "Nope." they said in unison, but immediately another whoosh of wind sounded, this time followed by a very human "Whoohoooo!"

Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut crept to the edge of the forest and looked out over the water.

Above them, looping over the water's surface, was Hiccup on his Night Fury. Fishlegs stared in wonder. He knew that Hiccup probably road the dragon, considering the saddle and the whole Dragon-Master thing, but he never thought that he'd get to see it himself. The two of them were so graceful, so symbiotic, so . . . so . . .

Fishlegs' thoughts were interrupted by the other dragon that swooped down—the one with the woman on it's back.

Hiccup called out to her joyfully, and the three younger Vikings dropped their jaws in shock.

"Is that- ?" Fishlegs asked, leaving the question open-ended. The twins nodded mutely, and Fishlegs fainted.

* * *

Astrid and Stormfly met up with them when they landed in the cove. Warmth spread through her when she saw the way that Hiccup's face glowed in the presence of his mother, and she slid her hand into his happily, pressing a kiss against his temple.

"Good flight?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"The best." Hiccup gazed at her with the first honest smile she'd seen from him all afternoon. "I didn't realized how much I missed her until she was here, or how stressed I was about keeping all of this from her."

"Well," Astrid laughed a bit dryly, "Good, because now you have to get back to work. The other Chiefs are wondering where you've gone."

"Right." Hiccup put his free palm to his forehead. "Of course. The Chiefs."

"I shouldn't have kept you." Valka spoke, joining them as she stepped away from her dragon. "We are on The Island of the Chiefs. It's only reasonable that you would have to meet at some time."

Hiccup blushed bashfully. "I'm sure they have plenty of questions about everything that's going on. Especially now that Viggo's here." He gave Astrid's hand one last squeeze, then let it go. "Toothless!" he called. The dragon raised his head, then bounded over. "Come on bud." Hiccup scratched under the Night Fury's chin. "Can't leave them waiting."

With a last wave, he flew out of the cove and back towards the village.

Astrid toyed self-consciously with Stormfly's saddle, shifting nervously next to Valka in the silence. The Viking woman smiled warmly and sighed, picking up on Astrid's restlessness.

"Alright." Valka urged her kindly, "Out with it. What's wrong?"

"It's just. . . ." Astrid began hesitantly. "Hiccup is being Hiccup and Stoick is being Stoick. I feel like they're both running away from each other like the stubborn Viking idiots they are."

"This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' nonsense that my husband used to spew to the Odin-loving heavens?" Valka asked, already knowing the answer. When Astrid stared bashfully at her hands, Valka laughed. "I thought so. He's too Hiccup to see the path in front of him. His head and his heart are too big for his good. And Stoick? Well, he's always had some trouble understanding how to communicate with our son. Hiccup was more like me from birth, but whenever Stoick made an effort, Hiccup found a way to understand him."

"They're not talking to each other." Astrid insisted. "About the dragons."

The woman placed a warm palm on Astrid's shoulder. "We'll just have to nudge them in the right direction, I suppose."

Astrid smiled.

* * *

Stoick had spent the morning preventing his son and his nephew from killing each other. Then he had watched the strange, older version of his son drag of Snotlout to who-knows where. He had received a humbling glare from his son's future wife, and had gotten Snotlout back as fresh and impossible as he had always been. He had dealt with gawking Chiefs from the future and had finally managed to fend them off, and now, he had to deal with this.

The Twins and Fishlegs stood in front of him, red-faced and wide-eyed. They had rushed out of the forest—a place they never should have been to in the first place—and had skidded in front of him, panting. And now, they didn't even have the presence of mind to grovel.

"Well?" Stoick asked, his frustration making him feel intimidating. The shaking Ingerman in front of him proved that he was indeed terrifying at the moment.

Fishlegs bounced on his toes, his hands slapped across his mouth as his eyes flickered nervously around the hut. The Twins stared at him, and then at each other.

"Spit it OUT, Fishlegs!" Stoick shouted. "I haven't got the patience to deal with this, Odin help me!"

"WeSawHiccup'sMomInTheForest." The Ingerman let loose a torrent of words.

Stoick paled, then frowned in anger, sure he had heard the boy wrong. "Say that again, son." he said, sternly, coldly.

"We-" Fishlegs faltered. He looked to the Twins, who gave him no help, then breathed in a shaky breath and continued. "We were out following dragon tracks, and we got to the edge of the island, and we saw Hiccup flying on his dragon. But there was another dragon with him, and there was a woman on the dragon, and Hiccup called her-" Fishlegs looked into Stoick's burning eyes and he gulped. "Hiccup called her _Mom_?" The phrase came out as a question, and Fishlegs hid behind his hands.

"You're absolutely sure of this." Stoick stated, looking at the three of them.

"But how-" Astrid spoke up from behind him. "How is that possible?"

"I thought that mom. . ." Everyone turned and looked at Hiccup. "I thought that mom was dead."

Stoick stared at the boy before turning back to the three Vikings in front of him, more determined than ever.

"What did she look like?" He asked. "What did you see, _exactly_?"

"Red hair," Tuffnut spoke, finding his voice, "Sort of thin, but broader shoulders. Looked like she could have a mean left hook if she wanted to. From how her laugh sounded, I'd say she probably has a nice singing voice. At least, for a Viking. Not that that means that much, of course. I mean, have you heard Gobber sing? It would at least be better than _that_. . . ."

Stoick stood frozen in place.

"Dad?" Hiccup asked.

"Show me." Stoick turned upon Fishlegs fiercely. "Show me where you found her."

* * *

 **Valka and Hiccup and Stoick make me so emotional. I love the song scene between Stoick and Valka in HTTYD2, partially because the look on Hiccup's face is a mix of unadulterated, childlike joy, and an utter disbelief, like this is somehow all a fantastic dream that can't possibly be real. Unfortunately, that portion of his life was just as brief as a dream would have been, it seems.**

 **Hiccup's face is so expressive. I know a few people like that in real life-people who have what I'm told is called "heart." Based on how it was described to me, "heart" is when someone is so expressive that their emotions are vivid on their face. One person I know can smile with only his eyes, but most of the time it involves the whole face, and sometimes the whole body. The fact that the animators succeeded in so perfectly reflecting this sort of personality in Hiccup always gives me a sense of awe. You can see the care and love that went into making these films, and that's something that I try to emulate in my writing. Personally, I feel that I fall short, but one can always dare to dream. . . .**

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **I love you guys more and more with every chapter. Thank you to my regular reviewers, as well as to the new readers who are sending in their comments. Your reviews mean so much to me; you always have great thoughts and questions. I often need to bounce ideas off of other people when I write, so your reviews help me a lot because they provide feedback and pose questions that I hadn't considered before. Keep on being awesome; I love communicating with you guys.**

 **Ceo160:**

 **Thanks! I love Hiccup and Astrid so much as a couple. I do my best to keep them as close to the actual characters as possible. Also, the olders and the youngers definitely need to talk to each other. You'll see things play out eventually. I promise.**

 **S.H:**

 **Ha. I totally understand the frustration. The characters definitely need to talk it out. Stoick and Hiccup are both incredibly stubborn, as we've seen. Combine that with Hiccup's desperate need for approval (much like Snotlout) and his somewhat self-conscious, self-blaming tendencies, and the result is a lot of unhealthy guilt and no outlet. Of course, if they would just sit down and work all of this out, it wouldn't be a problem. Also, good point about Drago. He needs his own healthy outlet to work through his anger and realize that dragons aren't always to blame.**

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 **And now that I feel less guilty, I'll see all of you next Saturday.**


	7. Chapter 7

**I just can't keep to a schedule, can I, guys?**

 **The Wifi has been passive-aggressive with me the past few days, so I'm updating now, lest I end up updating late.**

 **I know a lot of you have been waiting for this chapter, so we'll dive right in.**

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 **Disclaimer: I don't own How to Train Your Dragon. It belongs to DreamWorks and Cressida Cowell.**

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Part 7:

Stoick followed behind Fishlegs and the Twins, only to turn and find the other Vikings tailing him.

"Go back to the hut." He commanded, giving them the sternest face he could muster, given the situation.

"No way, Chief." Astrid stood her ground.

"Yeah," Snotlout protested. "There are dragons all over this island. You can't leave us alone!"

They all stared at him.

"Uh, I mean . . . You'll definitely want another big, strong Viking around to help you defend yourselves. Right babe?" He smiled at Astrid and wiggled his eyebrows. The girl emitted a sound somewhere between exasperation and disgust. Stoick raised his own brows a bit when he saw Hiccup smile at Astrid's reaction, the boy's cheeks lightly dusted with more than just his freckles.

Hiccup looked up and met his father's eyes, growing suddenly sober.

"I've just been told that my mother—the one that I've been told my whole life was carried off, and probably eaten, by dragons—might be alive. You're not leaving me behind."

The Chief couldn't decide whether he was proud of his son's tenacity, or frustrated at his defiance.

"Fine." Stoick spoke, turning. "But hurry up. I'd rather find her before we run into more of those Defenders of the Wing. I'm the Chief of Berk. I refuse to be manhandled by scrawny men who don't know how to dress like decent Vikings."

They trudged further into the forest, and Fishlegs paused. The Twins crashed into him, and they toppled over themselves into the dirt.

"Hey, not cool man." Tuffnut complained.

"Yeah," Ruff supplied. "Why'd you stop? Are we lost?"

"What's wrong?" Stoick asked impatiently. Fishlegs sat frozen, staring at the foliage in front of them. A _whooshing_ sound came from the forest around them, and a shadow passed behind the trees.

"Uh, dad." Hiccup and the other Vikings stepped closer to the Chief. "I don't think-"

"I have no idea where I'm going." Tuffnut admitted obliviously. "Fishlegs was the one who showed us-"

"Shh!" Snotlout pushed Tuffnut to back to the ground by his helmet. "Quiet, stupid. You're going to get us killed!"

A breeze fluttered through the trees, carrying on it the eery sound of a woman humming.

Stoick froze.

"Chief, what-" Astrid began, but Stoick held out his hand and stopped her. The teenagers fell into an uneasy silence around their leader.

The humming stopped suddenly, like a phantom lost in a wisp of air. The silence hung almost expectantly. Stoick opened his mouth to make a sound- anything. But his throat was too dry. He wiped moist palms upon his tunic and stared wide-eyed into the forest.

A voice picked up the tune again—a smooth, honeysuckle sound that Stoick never thought he would hear again.

 _I'll swim and sail on savage seas_

 _With ne'er a fear of drowning_

 _And gladly ride the waves of life_

There was the silence again. That moment of waiting, but this time it was gentle. Almost hesitant.

Stoick took a shaky breath, and although he could not bring his cracking voice above a whisper, he sang the next line softly back into the wind.

 _If you will marry me_

The forest fell into a hush again. The teenagers standing about Stoick were holding their breaths, and he felt for a moment that they had stumbled into a sacred place. A chill ran down his spine.

From the late-day shadows of the woods appeared a dragon, large and terrifying in build. Stoick recognized it instantly and grabbed for a sword that wasn't there, his mind in a panic. But as it stepped into the light, the dragon bent its head, and a figure slipped from its back onto the earthen floor.

"Mom?" Hiccup asked.

And before Stoick's frozen body could move to stop him or join him, Hiccup was creeping forward to investigate. Valka bent down and pulled him into a hug, stroking his hair.

"Hello, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I know- I know I stayed away so long."

"But," Hiccup stared wide-eyed up at his mother, "why?"

"I thought for the longest time you would be better off without me."

Stoick's heart bounced into his throat, but he paused, frowning at how closely his wife and son were standing to the beast that had stolen Valka away from him. Stoick cleared his throat. Hiccup and Valka looked up at him.

"I see he has you riding dragons as well."

Valka laughed. "I can see what Astrid meant." She smiled coolly at him, as though she had made an inside joke, and placed her hand and head against the dragon before looking back at the group of Vikings. "I was riding Cloud Jumper long before Hiccup shot down Toothless."

She approached Stoick and looked him in the eyes.

"You, Stoick the Vast, need to go talk to your son."

Stoick spluttered at the fierce-eyed woman who had lit a spark within him so many years ago. He was suddenly reminded of why he had so much trouble with Hiccup on his own. Having the boy stand there, side to side with his mother for the first time, the man could see the resemblance quite clearly.

" _I_ need to talk to _him_ , do I?" Stoick protested. "The boy's an adult—a Chief. If he needs to speak with me he knows where he can find me."

Valka scoffed. "And look at who his parents are. Stoick, look at yourself. How many years did you spend searching for me before Gobber finally forced you to settle down and stop? Look at how long I stayed away because of my own bruised ego—because I thought I would stand in the way of the very husband and son who needed me. This is apparently the child who spent the first large chunk of his life using his right hand for all things Viking even though he was obviously left-handed. Put your pride away and talk to the boy. Hiccup's not going to come to you. He's too much like us."

From behind Valka, Stoick could see Hiccup's embarrassed blush. The boy looked mortified at having been found out.

"What are you talking about?" Stoick asked. "He's not left handed."

"No, I remember that." Fishlegs looked thoughtful. "He used to use it all the time when we were younger. Before . . ."

The younger Vikings looked at Snotlout.

"What?!" Snotlout laughed it off, puffing his chest out defensively. "It was weird! Was I not supposed to pick on him?" He gestured to Hiccup. "No _real_ Viking I know ever uses his left hand."

Hiccup's face turned red again, but this time for a different reason. He bunched his fists at his sides.

Astrid punched Snotlout in the arm, eliciting a noise of indignant pain from the Jorgenson.

Stoick stared between his nephew, his son, and his wife. Valka had always been left-handed and no one had bullied her. Then again, she had also been Viking enough to cover for it. But Hiccup? Stoick hadn't seen it in the boy. He had been gone so often looking for his missing wife that he'd missed so much of Hiccup's younger years. Was it true that he had felt pressured into being more like his father? More like the other Vikings? Stoick didn't doubt it.

Stoick shuffled uncomfortably in front of his long-lost wife. This was not how he had planned this reunion all those years ago, back then he had been all about Vengeance—the Honor of Valka's memory. Somewhere along the way he had forgotten who she really was and what he loved about her.

He had forgotten how much Valka that Hiccup had within him.

"I- I have so many questions!" Hiccup, it seemed, had gotten over his mortification enough to remember how excited he was. His hands flew through the air as he talked, running through his hair and sweeping in motions of anxious excitement. Valka knelt down next to him again and grasped his shoulders, staring lovingly at her son. "You- You've been riding dragons! Dad said they took you away, but they didn't hurt you at all, did they? They were protecting you! This is- Everything we knew about them was wrong! I can't believe it."

The boy pulled away and paced, his hands moving thoughtfully. "But then why are they attacking the village? There must be a reason. And why take animals, but not hurt people?"

Valka laughed. "All in time, Hiccup. In fact, I think the better person to ask about all of this is _yourself_."

Her face was filled with such joy and adoration. Stoick wondered if she would ever look that way at him again. She turned and met his eyes. There was something in there—a glint of pity, of melancholy, and also of longing.

Stoick stepped forward.

Valka's dragon loomed over her, reaching its head across to sniff Stoick. The creature paused, staring at him with great yellow eyes. It's head rotated curiously in a terrifyingly unnatural way.

He jumped when he found Valka beside him, her hand gently grasping his. She raised their hands together and moved them slowly, reaching out to the dragon. The beast paused, then nuzzled itself against Stoick's hand. His breath caught, but he didn't move away, soaking in the feeling of Valka standing so close.

"He doesn't want to hurt you." Valka's silk-sewn voice swept into his ear. It was the most beautiful sound that Stoick had ever heard. "Hiccup's right. We were wrong about them for so long. I want- I _need_ you to see that, Stoick."

The dragon backed away and left the two standing near each other—nearer than Stoick had thought he'd ever be again to his own Freya. His beautiful goddess. Hiccup watched them from nearby, his expression a mixture of joy and disbelief. Stoick understood. A fear gripped his heart that he would wake up any moment from this wonderful, terrifying dream.

"This is-" The large Viking Chief gazed into Valka's eyes. "This is all real. The dragons and the peace, and you."

She smiled at him. Stoick choked slightly on his breath. His hand moved to her face, and he held her.

"You're as beautiful as the day I lost you."

She folded into him, and Stoick decided that if this was the future, maybe the dragons weren't so bad. He could live with dragons, if this was what came with them.

* * *

Astrid dragged the Twins out of the forest, Snotlout and Fishlegs following close behind.

"Hey!" Ruffnut called, "Not cool, man."

"Agreed, dear sister." Tuffnut twisted, pulling himself out of Astrid's grasp and dusting himself off. "That was very rude. We were enjoying such a Haddock-esque display of affection."

Snotlout laughed. "You mean how Hiccup stumbles around rattling off nonsense while Stoick tries not to explode from his son's lack of Viking-ness?"

"Cut it out." Astrid glared at all of them. "Don't you see what's going on here? Someone claiming to be Stoick's wife shows up riding dragons. . . . What if this woman is the reason that Hiccup is so obsessed with them?"

"Are you saying that that's not actually Hiccup's mom?!" Fishlegs gasped and slapped his hands over his mouth in shock.

"But wouldn't Stoick, you know, recognize that it's not her?" Snotlout frowned, his brow scrunching up in what, to Astrid, surprisingly looked like thought.

"It's been years." Astrid argued. "He was surprised that she was riding dragons. Maybe there's more about her that's different from how she was. Maybe _she_ isn't _her_ at all."

"Yeah." Tuffnut nodded, growing excited. "Maybe she's like, a dragon that can change into a person. She could be a lycanwing! Part-time dragon, part-time woman." His hands swept out, like the Thorston Twin was reading it from a grand sign in the sky. "Or maybe she's a dragon who ate Hiccup's mom and then _became_ her."

"Dragons don't work that way." Fishlegs argued. "And lycanwings aren't real."

"Or are they?" Snotlout asked forebodingly, a mischievous smirk on his face. He laughed wickedly as Tuffnut and Fishlegs cowered against each other. Ruffnut rolled her eyes.

"I don't care if she's a dragon or a woman or a five-headed Dwarf from Nidavellir." Astrid's intense eyes cut into each of them. "I've heard the story of what happened to Valka hundreds of times. I can't believe that she would just disappear for all those years and appear out of nowhere so that she could sail in on a dragon. Where has she been all this time, huh? Why didn't she come back sooner?"

"Well, she said-" Fishlegs began hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter what she said." Astrid argued back. "Even if she is who she claims she is, she's a completely different person than when she disappeared years ago. She's got to be. We can't trust anything that she says."

She turned and stared out at the island, tightening her hand into a fist. "We've got to find out the truth for ourselves."

* * *

 **I know that young-Astrid is being a little Agro, but I sort of like the juxtaposition between her older self being more understanding and gentle because of how much time she's spent with Hiccup and her younger self being upset because everything she's been taught about being a Viking has been completely changed. If it feels out of character, let me know and I'll see what I can do. After all, no character is strictly black-and-white personality-wise. They're still the same person, but they are in different stages of development. Again, I want to keep it as canon as possible for your reading pleasure. :)**

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **Thank you guys for the interesting conversations. Your reviews bring up some great ideas and interesting questions. As always, it helps me with the story. And I love responding to my regulars. Thanks for being such loyal readers. Also, if you're new to the story and you're curious about anything, feel free to ask questions and leave comments. Every little review is precious to me. One of the reasons I love writing this Fanfiction so much is that I've been receiving incredibly fun and helpful feedback.**

 **Ceo160:**

 **Thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I can try to put in some more references to Hiccstrid and Baby H. I've been trying to balance out what characters are narrating, but I love writing Hiccstrid and I don't mind finding more places to squeeze them into the plot.**

 **S.H:**

 **Wow! Intense! Yes. The characters are definitely not communicating like they should be. Stoick still has this fear that Hiccup is some sort of monster like Drago, and he can't seem to separate the idea of training dragons from the idea of being just like Drago Bloodfist. He and Valka definitely need to sit down and have a conversation, and so do he and the Hiccups. But we don't always get what we want... You'll just have to wait and see what happens.**


	8. Chapter 8

**It's such a beautiful, wonderful day. And also I might be doing something tomorrow that could prevent me from uploading on time. So guess what that means? Tada! Update!**

 **Honestly, what's the point of having a weekly schedule if I keep updating early. . . . Sorry guys. I'm predictably unpredictable.**

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 **Disclaimer: After listening to some of the books, I have even more respect for Cressida Cowell and for the DreamWorks staff. The movies and the books are so fun and unique. They most certainly don't belong to me.**

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Part 8:

Riding on a dragon was terrifying. It was also more incredible than Stoick could have ever dreamed it would be. For so many years, Vikings had been sequestered to the sea as their mode of travel, but the powerful beating wings of a dragon, along with its majestic prowess, demanded respect.

He imagined that his search for Valka might have gone a lot quicker if he'd had one of these creatures to help him. Then again, Stoick wondered if she would have stayed away so long if he'd had a change of heart. Valka had never been comfortable with killing the beasts. Maybe if he had listened to her back then, he never would have lost her.

Stoick's head shot up when he heard the screams.

Children. The high pitched voice of a young girl yelling "DragonDragonDragon!" over and over again. As Cloud Jumper landed, he jolted from the dragon's back, ready to attack.

From between the lengthening dusk shadows of the island's huts came galloping a sleek, black figure, pouncing from shadow to shadow in the fading light. The Night Fury let out a great bellow, his purple fire shining bright in his open maw. Stoick's brow creased and he tensed. He had been wrong to trust these dragons after all. Wrong to trust his son. Wrong to trust his _wife_.

And then Toothless careened into the open center of the village, small children giggling as they clutched at his scaly hide.

"Again!" called the blond little girl sitting atop the dragon's head, clutching at its ear flaps. "AgainAgain!"

The other children giggled and screamed with joy, two hugged the dragon's neck, one was cemented to his front left leg, one sprawled across the Night Fury's back, and two more held vice grips on the creature's gently flapping tail.

Toothless flopped to the ground in dramatic, playful indignation. He huffed in defeat, spreading his paws and tail across the ground and going limp.

"Up, dragon!" the little girl shouted with glee. "Up up up!"

"Toothless!"

The laughing voice of his human caused the dragon to raise his head and give a gummy smile. Stoick turned as well to see the Older Hiccup, standing outside the Hall as the rest of the Chiefs filed out into the early evening light. Some of them went to collect their children, approaching the Night Fury with absolutely no fear.

Stoick watched as Older Hiccup made his way to the dragon. Toothless warbled happily, his pupils wide and friendly. Stoick relaxed. He had seen the way this dragon looked at his son. This was not the type of control that Drago had induced through pain and torture; this was a bond of trust. Whether that trust was warranted, Stoick had yet to decide, but at least he know that his son wasn't an absolute monster. He was still so . . . Hiccup.

The young man knelt down and gently plucked the little girl off of his dragon's head, setting her on the ground. She hugged his right leg, and Hiccup ruffled her blond hair before detaching her again and pointing her in the direction of her parents. Stoick smiled. Despite his doubts, Hiccup was most certainly still Hiccup. The main difference, it seemed, was that this Hiccup wasn't afraid to be himself.

That was when Astrid sprinted into the middle of the village, hefting her axe and letting out a fierce, warrior's yell. The other teenagers trailed timidly behind her.

Astrid paused when she discovered that there was no danger. She glared at the Chiefs that stared at her. The Chiefs, in turn, averted their eyes somewhat nervously and went on with their lives. Somewhere to his left, Stoick could hear the maniacal laughter of a Berserker.

"We heard screaming." Astrid prompted, waiting for someone to point her in the direction of the danger. Stoick felt his heart swell with warmth. _This_ was a fierce and fearless Viking, ready for battle at a moment's notice. She might have been a bit hasty with the axe at times, but at least she had the fighting spirit.

A little voice in the back of his head whispered _That's your future daughter-in-law_ , and the warm feeling blossomed. Stoick still wasn't quite sure he believed it, but he was more than happy to have this bold-blooded spit-fire join his family line. And he was sure her parents would be glad to hear she hadn't married a Jorgenson.

Jorgensons and Hoffersons did not mix well.

And when Stoick thought about it, it was a surprisingly good match. With Astrid, Hiccup seemed to have found his confidence. And Astrid had found an enlightened sense of restraint.

A gentle fierceness. Not your average Viking pair, but perhaps more effective than Stoick had originally imagined. A good match, indeed.

This younger Astrid had not yet found that sense of restraint. She slammed her axe into the dirt, looking very much like she wanted to punch something. With no dragon attacks and little to do but sit in a hut, Stoick supposed that she'd been feeling cabin fever all day. He could sympathize with that. But he was also starting to sympathize with his son. Stoick wasn't yet sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

The Older Hiccup had noticed them. Valka and Younger Hiccup slid smoothly off of Cloud Jumper's back, and the three of them faced the young Berkan Chief.

"You got dad to ride a dragon." Hiccup stared at his mother. "Do you know how long it took me to convince him to ride?" He waved his arms around in a very Hiccup way. "Ages! And that was after everything with the Red Death! He trusted me; he trusted Toothless; he just didn't trust us together with him in the air. And he wouldn't even _think_ about riding a different dragon."

"To be fair, Hiccup," Valka smiled at him and ruffled his hair, much like Hiccup had done to the small blond girl, "you're not his wife."

Hiccup sighed a little, but Stoick could see his smile peaking through.

Hiccup turned to his father and his younger self. Stoick found himself shuffling nervously.

"Yes, well." Stoick tapped his fingers together anxiously. "I- I don't suppose we could get some dinner!"

It came out more vehemently than he intended it to. In fact, that wasn't what Stoick had intended to say at all. But food was the safest escape for Stoick the Vast, as long as he didn't have to talk about dragons and how much he had failed as a father.

"Right." Hiccup looked both relieved and disappointed, and Stoick could feel Valka staring at them with her worried-yet-disapproving motherly eyes.

"Right." Stoick repeated, shuffling in place.

Hiccup's eyes whirled with conflicting emotions, but he managed a strained smile. "Follow me, I guess."

* * *

Older Astrid was sitting, waiting for the Haddock family at a table in the Great Hall—the same one the Chiefs had vacated moments before in order to collect their own families. It was similar enough to the Great Hall back on Berk that Stoick felt a little less out of place, and the great meeting hall was lit far more vibrantly than it had been the night before, when Stoick and the other younger Vikings had first found themselves in this strange future. He though back to an image of his son, seated in the inky blackness of the hall, shrouded beneath the wings of a Nigh Fury as the creature broiled a purple fire in its maw.

Stoick shivered. Maybe he still wasn't quite used to the idea of living with dragons.

But then the little blond girl skipped past their table, shrieking with glee as her parents trailed behind. She had her arms tucked into her shirt, and she was flapping her elbows like little wings.

"Do you mind if we join you?"

Stoick looked up to see the blond haired woman from the night before—the one with all the ninja Vikings. With her was a man who looked suspiciously like-

"Dagur!" Older Hiccup smiled warmly. "Mala! Please. You're always welcome."

Beside Stoick, Younger Hiccup spluttered. For a moment the boy seemed unable to breathe.

"Great!" Dagur proclaimed excitedly. "Because I brought mead! Except for you, Hiccup." He set down a cup of yak milk in front of the teenager. "Can't have you drinking the strong stuff."

When he set down a mug in front of Astrid, she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Next to her, Older Hiccup spoke up.

"Dagur, um, Astrid can't. You know-"

"I'll just have yak milk, Dagur. Thanks." Astrid pushed the alcohol away and poked at the large leg of meat on her plate.

"Gah. Sorry! I should have remembered. Of course. Yeah. Right." The Berserker grabbed the mug of mead and made his way out into the crowd to find a more suitable drink.

Stoick turned to his wife, his eyes wide. His gaze flitted back between Hiccup, Astrid, and Valka. Valka smiled knowingly and winked, reaching behind smaller Hiccup to grab Stoick's left hand.

"Don't tell me you didn't expect this?" She asked her husband, the smirk apparent in her voice. "Can you imagine the Hel it's going to give us, though? As stubborn as Hiccup, as fierce as Astrid." Valka's joyous laugh bubbled from her throat. "The baby will probably be flying before it can walk."

Between the two of them, Younger Hiccup choked a bit on his yak milk. The boy turned bright red.

The Berkan Chief gaped at his Older son and Astrid. Hiccup looked slightly embarrassed, his ears dusted with color, but Astrid just smiled.

Stoick looked up. Another man had made his way over to the table and materialized next to Astrid, causing the woman's smile to morph into a frown. His face was scarred horribly on the left side, and his milky white eye stared at them blankly from its socket. He nodded to Stoick with what appeared to be respect before taking a seat and addressing Hiccup.

"Do you have a plan, then, for when Drago comes?"

Stoick's back stiffened immediately. He gripped his leg of yack meat so tightly that the bone nearly snapped.

"Business as always, Viggo?" Older Hiccup asked, somewhat tiredly.

"We could always stick him in a dragon cave somewhere and let the wildlife take care of him." Astrid muttered fiercely into her hunk of meat. "Stormfly and I could take him on a short flight, just for fun—dangle him over the edge of the earth."

"Where are your other Dragon Riders?" Viggo asked, pointedly ignoring Astrid. No one asked whether she was talking about Viggo or Drago. Stoick had a feeling that both men had a special place in Astrid's heart—the part specifically reserved for wrathful vengeance.

"At home." Hiccup told him. "Defending Berk."

Viggo hummed musingly. "Just as well, I suppose. If Drago thinks that I took your younger selves home, Berk will need someone to defend it. In any case, you should send one of your Terror Mails. Warn them of what might be coming."

"Terror Mail?" Younger Hiccup looked up at the strange man. Stoick noticed with a pang that his young son was holding the yack leg with his right hand, while Older Hiccup ate out of his left.

"Yes." Viggo smiled in amusement. "An idea of your own. I'm afraid it's not something I can take credit for, as ingenious as it is. Trained Terrible Terrors, used to deliver messages between islands. Much faster than boat travel, and it doesn't require a human messenger or a crew to deliver it."

"They instinctively return to familiar places." Older Hiccup continued excitedly, leaning across the table to better see his smaller self. Stoick could see Astrid's eyes light up with humor as she watched Hiccup ramble on. On top of the table she gripped his right hand in her own. She looked up and smiled at Stoick who sat across from her. The Hiccups didn't seem to notice. "They're easy to train. Once you learn the things that a dragon does naturally, it's easy to use it to make life easier. Not to mention, you're building trust and familiarity with the dragon by using it to sending messages."

"Terror Mail?" Dagur asked, sitting back down between Older Hiccup and Mala and passing a milk-filled mug to Astrid. "Are we sending something to Alvin?"

"Alvin." Hiccup groaned into his mug. "I knew I forgot something. I'm supposed to send him daily updates."

"Alvin." The name was hollow in Stoick's mouth.

"We offered him a seat at the meeting of the Chiefs, but he told us that he trusted Berk to make all the big decisions for both islands." Astrid informed them helpfully.

"Alvin." Stoick spoke in disbelief. "Alvin the Treacherous."

"Ha. Uh, yeah." Hiccup laughed guiltily. "He didn't feel comfortable leaving Outcast Island. He said that the last time he was gone for an extended period of time, Dagur escaped."

"Aw come on." Dagur smiled broadly and slung his arm around Older Hiccup's shoulders. "It wasn't all that bad, Brother! I mean, we're allies, aren't we? If I hadn't gotten out, that never would have happened."

This time Younger Hiccup actually did spit out his milk. Directly onto Viggo, who was sitting across from him, on Astrid's right side.

A slightly damp Viggo turned to look Older Hiccup in the eye. "I think, Hiccup Haddock," he spoke, surprisingly calmly, "there are some things you ought to explain to our charming new-old friends."

Astrid's gaze slid to Viggo, and finally she laughed.

* * *

Snotlout took another large bite out of his piece of meat as he joined the table of Viking teenagers. Astrid, he noticed, had chosen to sit between a little blond girl and Fishlegs, leaving no openings for him to take a seat. He followed her gaze to a table on the other side of the hall where the Haddocks had gathered—future and past.

"Hey." Snotlout frowned. "Isn't that that guy who attacked us with his dragon?"

"Yes!" Fishlegs whisper-yelled in excitement. "And future-Hiccup actually seems comfortable with him!"

"Yeah." Tuffnut laughed. "But Astrid looks like she wants to bite his head off and feed it to her dragon. You know, the blue one with the pointy spines."

"It's a Nadder, Tuffnut." Fishlegs frowned at him. "We were about to join Dragon Training before we were, you know. Didn't you prepare at all?"

Snotlout scoffed. "The Twins? Prepare for something? Ha. Don't make me laugh."

"But he did just make you laugh." Ruffnut pointed out.

"No. That was sarcastic." The Jorgenson frowned, then rolled his eyes. "Ugh, whatever. You know what? I'm not even going to try with you two."

Astrid was still staring with narrowed eyes at the Haddocks.

"Come on, Babe." Snotlout put his face in her way from across the table. "Don't you want to look at these beautiful brown eyes instead? Don't tell me you're actually interested in _Hiccup_."

"This is serious, Snotlout." Astrid glared at him. "If that woman is somehow manipulating Hiccup and Stoick, I'm going to find out, and I'm going to stop it."

"You mean half-woman." Ruffnut corrected.

"Yeah." Tuffnut laughed. "Hey, I wonder what lycanwings eat."

Ruffnut smiled. "Besides the tears of their enemies."

Tuffnut then burst into tears himself.

The rest of the table looked at the Twins strangely.

"He doesn't like the t-word." Ruffnut whispered conspiratorially. "You know, _tears_."

Tuffnut sobbed more loudly.

Ruffnut laughed maniacally and began chanting the word with reckless abandon.

"Ahg." Astrid groaned, staring up at the sky. She veered on them. "What is _wrong_ with all of you?"

"Well," Tuffnut supplied, "Snotlout has an inferiority complex, Fishlegs is inflexible and can't apply his book brains to the real-world, _she_ " Here he pointed at his sister. "is a vicious monster who loves to see me in pain, you're completely obsessed with Hiccup and his perfect future, and I can't say t- t- tttt-tt-"

"Tears." Ruffnut interjected gleefully, a wicked look on her face.

"I don't have an inferiority complex." Snotlout argued. "In fact, I'll bet you don't even know what an inferiority complex is."

"Do I really not have real-world knowledge?" Fishlegs asked, looking worriedly into empty space. He paused. "Did _Tuffnut_ really notice that?"

"And I am _not_ obsessed with Hiccup!" Astrid screamed. The Vikings closest to them quieted and stared for a moment before turning back to their own conversations. Some of them stood up and headed out of the great hall. Including Hiccup and his family.

"What's going on?" Snotlout asked.

"Stop. Listen." Astrid ordered.

From outside the Great Hall, music was playing. The sound of a pipe and assorted instruments, and deep, Viking voices singing. Clapping.

"I heard that one of the Tribes brought instruments." Fishlegs perked up in interest. "Apparently it's common to have a dance on the first night of the Chief Meetings. Something happened yesterday that delayed the tradition. We're lucky to be able to see it."

Snotlout watched as the Older Astrid smiled, tugging her husband's hand as they disappeared out the doors. Valka and Stoick had their fingers intertwined. Teenage Hiccup stared up at them in a daze of joy.

"Babe," Snotlout turned back to Astrid. "Want to dance with me?"

Astrid glared and punched him in the arm. She stood and followed the pack of Vikings out into the summer night.

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **Thank all of you again for your amazing feedback. It's already causing me to alter future chapters (hopefully for the better). I love the requests and ideas that all of you are putting into your reviews. It helps to know what the audience wants, and most of the time it's something easily done that also helps to improve the story. The story's going to be longer as a result, but I don't mind as long as it's what all of you want. The scenes are fun to write. :) You've been such a fantastic audience, and I want to thank you over and over again for all of the fun we've been having together.**

 **Again, if you have any critiques or corrections, I'm also open to those. I'm always looking to improve my writing. All of you have been so kind and supportive, and I love that you're so sweet to me, but I also don't want you to feel as though you have to treat me with kid gloves. I'm on this site, not only to share my love for existing stories, but also to learn and grow as a writer.**

 **Ceo160:**

 **They'll interact with each other along the way, but you may have to wait a bit longer for the characters to really sit down with each other and chat. They're all sort of dancing around the idea of actually talking with each other, giving the excuse that they'll talk later. But I do intend to have some real heart-to-hearts eventually, don't worry.**

 **Wolf:**

 **Haha. Yes, I know. It seems like everybody wants the Astrids to sit down and work their problems out. I'm glad that you're enjoying the story. I'll do what I can about the Astrids. . . .**

 **Guest:**

 **I'm flattered that you think that the story is awesome. :) Thank you so much! Yes, the Hiccups need to talk with each other, and so do the Astrids. And Younger Astrid talking with Older Hiccup would be interesting. I'll put some more thought into that. Your review had many good ideas and thoughts. And I love the idea of Hiccup and Astrid having kids, too. That's one of the reasons that I wrote Astrid as pregnant. I was too nervous to give them actual children-mostly because then I would have to create Original Characters. I wanted to stick with the existing characters for the sake of this story.**

 **S.H:**

 **I agree that Viggo talking to Astrid would be hilarious. Viggo definitely has a different way of conducting himself. He's not your average run-of-the-mill Viking. . . . I am curious about the name Solveig. Is there some important meaning behind it, or was it a cool, fun name that you found? Thanks again for all of your amazing reviews. Hope you enjoy how it all turns out.**


	9. Chapter 9

**This week felt incredibly long to me for some reason. I kept wondering if I had missed an update because seven days felt more like fourteen. . . .**

 **I am so thankful for all of the reviews I've been receiving. This chapter was initially going to move the plot along more, but that put me at an awkward spot with pacing, so I slipped in a little extra Hiccstrid for all of you instead. Enough of you have been requesting more HiccupxAstrid interaction, and this was the perfect place for it. If you hadn't asked for it, I might have missed out on an opportunity for some cuteness.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD.**

* * *

Part 9:

Outside the Great Hall, the air had fallen from summer heat to the chill of night. The darkness pressed softly around Hiccup like a cool blanket, and he found himself drawn to the warmth of the bonfire that lit the center of the village square. People filled the empty spaces, their shadows twisting in mesmerizing patterns as their bodies danced in the light of the fire.

The scrawny teenager made his way through the crowd, and for once he wasn't bumped or prodded by the mass of human bodies. The people around him noticed him, and some even smiled and nodded in recognition. Hiccup blinked in a haze of surprise. The last twenty-four hours he had drifted as though through a dream, first meeting himself, then his mother, and then being treated by other Vikings like he wasn't some useless waste of space. All of this was . . . odd. It was nice.

There was a cheer, and then a hush, and Hiccup poked his head through the last ring of people to see Stoick and Valka standing in the firelight. A tune began from the lone pipe, joined by the other instruments, and Hiccup saw Stoick's face beam as the two began to dance.

Other Vikings joined as well, and someone began to clap, but Hiccup only had eyes for his parents. It was . . . This had to be a dream. A wonderful, impossible dream.

"They're incredible, aren't they."

Hiccup looked up to find his older self standing there, staring at Valka and Stoick with such wonder in his eyes—a well of emotions that broiled and whirled like a warm sea or the wind in fall. Hiccup wondered if his feelings were always that easy to read.

"When did-" The boy tried to formulate his words as his older self looked down at him. "Where was mom this whole time? Why did she come back? And what- What happened to dad?"

Grief flashed so clearly across the Chief's face that Hiccup felt as though he had been stabbed. This was _his_ emotion, or it would be. He felt mixed feelings—the knowledge that he would someday be close enough to his father to feel that much pain, along with the foreboding truth that he would lose a man who had meant the world to him. Something in Hiccup's chest constricted and didn't let go. He had to sit down.

The Older Hiccup knelt down next to him.

"Let's not- . . . Don't think about it now. You have years with him, and it's some of the best years of your life. And then you have mom and Astrid and the Dragon Riders and the village."

"What's Astrid . . . Um, what's she like?" Hiccup fidgeted nervously.

His older counterpart laughed.

"Astrid is-" Older Hiccup's eyes were lost in a blaze of joy and admiration and something fiercer—protective, but gentle. "Astrid is bold and reckless and head-strong, and she doesn't listen to half the orders I give her." The Chief laughed and rubbed his upper arm as though it were sore. "She is unbelievable, and sometimes she does things that should make her completely insufferable, but everything she does pushes me in a better direction." The older Viking looked at the teenager and gave Hiccup his hand to help him stand up. "Her opinions and strategies are invaluable. I honestly don't know how I would handle being Chief without her. And she has more faith and respect for me than I've ever deserved. She's- I can't even begin to tell you how amazing she is. I couldn't imagine a world without her."

Like a holy lightning flash from Thor, the Older Astrid appeared from the crowd, beaming when she saw the two Hiccups together.

"There you are." She tugged on the Older Hiccup's arm. "Come on, dragon boy. You owe me a dance."

As his wife dragged him towards the fire, the young man turned and gave Hiccup a wink.

* * *

Stoick's face was ruddy and his chest was bursting with adrenaline as he and Valka finished their dance and moved out of the firelight, watching the other Vikings take the floor. He stared long at Valka's beautiful, impossible face—her eyes, her smile—and Stoick the Vast let out a laugh from deep within him. Something that he hadn't done in a very long time. His wife turned, and she smiled at him.

"I haven't danced at one of these in years." Stoick whispered, touching her face, her hair, anything.

"Neither have I." Valka pushed into his touch, but then her eyes caught something behind him and she laughed. "Oh, Stoick, look!"

Stoick turned around. Astrid had pulled Hiccup into the firelight where the two of them circled each other, eyes half-lidded in mischievous grins. They eyed each other and prowled for a moment, before Hiccup raised his arm and Astrid mimicked with her own, a ribbon clasped in one hand, which the young Chief grabbed.

Someone whooped from the crowd, and Stoick saw Dagur grinning madly from the side. Mala, who, as Valka had explained to Stoick, had never been to a meeting of the Chiefs before and knew little about their culture, watched curiously from the crowd, smiling warmly at the married pair. That other man, Viggo, stood watching as well, something alight in his eyes that Stoick couldn't read.

"That man," Stoick mentioned to Valka, speaking lowly. "Viggo. Hiccup mentioned him before. He said he used to work for Drago Bloodfist. And then they mentioned Drago again at dinner."

Valka frowned and clutched Stoick's hand a little tighter, and Stoick remembered that one of the Defenders of the Wing had said that Stoick the Vast had died during the war with Drago Bloodfist. His eyes found Valka's teeth worrying her lip. His heart dropped.

"We'd wondered if he was dead." Valka told him quietly. "We had hoped, I suppose. We never found a body, but he disappeared, and his Bewilderbeast—a King of Dragons—it recovered so well. We moved it back into the wild, out of captivity. We watched it to see if Drago would come after it again, and when he never did, we just assumed."

She looked up into his eyes. There was a misty film covering her own.

"Oh, Stoick." Valka gripped both his hands in hers and turned fully towards him. "Do you understand now why you must talk with Hiccup? I know that you're afraid that he's like Drago, but, Dear, he's not. You'll understand someday; just try. He's so far from the man we fear. Hiccup is kind and gentle. He's not- You _can't_ compare him to Drago, do you understand? After everything that's happened, to have his own father. . . ."

It sunk into Stoick's very core. He'd said it to Hiccup's face the night before. He'd called him a traitor. He'd compared his son to the man who, as all evidence seemed to point out, had killed Stoick only a year before.

"I'll- I'll talk with him." Stoick promised. "I can't say that I trust the dragons, or that I understand what's changed. But I want to understand."

He kissed her, and he held her close.

"Ah, Valka." He sighed. "I've tried so hard with him for so many years. I can't help but wonder . . . Maybe it's time to stop trying and to start listening."

He looked across the crowd to as the dance ended. In the sparks of the crackling fire, Hiccup tugged on the ribbon and pulled Astrid up against him. The blond Viking smiled at her husband and laughed, then leaned in for a kiss.

"How did I miss how much _you_ was there in him all this time?"

"That's what made it so hard." Valka told him, pulling back to look Stoick in the eyes. "I think a part of you always knew. It's what made it hurt."

Stoick gazed up one last time at his son. Tomorrow, he promised himself. He would fix things tomorrow.

* * *

Astrid felt a flushed euphoria-a warmth that wasn't simply from the flames that she and Hiccup had danced beside. Tugging Hiccup's hand for the millionth time that evening, she drew him away from the bonfire and through the throngs of clapping Vikings out into a quiet area of the village. This island was filled with so much heart and life; it was hard to believe that these huts were only lived in one week a year. Astrid couldn't picture a dark and empty island. She looked back at Hiccup and smiled when he grinned, his eyes filled with love and befuddlement.

"Where are we going?" Hiccup asked, laughing as she tugged on him again. Astrid turned around and grabbed both his hands, walking backwards.

"We have something to show you." Astrid's smile broadened. Toothless appeared from behind a hut, bouncing on his toes with excitement. He warbled at Hiccup, and Astrid gladly fled to safety as Toothless pounced on Hiccup and licked the poor defenseless Chief.

Astrid poked her head into Hiccup's line of sight. She and Toothless grinned down at him.

"So are we measuring Toothless's spit capacity?" Hiccup joked playfully. "Because it's not that I don't love the surprise, but-"

"Oh, come here." Astrid rolled her eyes and pulled her husband out from under his dragon. Stormfly crept out of the shadows, and Hiccup and Astrid mounted their dragons and took off into the cool, crisp summer night.

Stormfly and Toothless coasted into the cove as Astrid and Hiccup laughed and batted at each other playfully. In the darkness, Hiccup gasped in wonder.

The water was lit with patches of green luminescence. Astrid smiled as Hiccup gaped. The Berkan Chief slowly realized that the small patches of light were-

"Dragons."

Astrid smiled and dismounted on the beach. She and Hiccup crept forwards towards the water.

"At first I thought they might be baby Flightmares, but they're obviously water dragons. Unless Flightmares start out like tadpoles. I'm not sure, but I thought you'd want to see."

"Astrid, this is," Hiccup sat at a loss for words. One of the small creatures swam into his palms, which he had cupped in the water. "This is incredible! Thor, Fishlegs is going to go nuts about this. I wonder why we never noticed this before. . . ."

"Well, this is your first year as Chief of Berk." Astrid knelt down next to him and gripped his shoulder. "Before this, most of the other tribes were still terrified of dragons. They probably never went out on the island at night."

Hiccup leaned back onto the beach, and the two of them wrapped their arms around each other. Astrid fingered the ribbon from the dance, which she still had wrapped around one wrist.

"So," Hiccup smiled, "You and Toothless teaming up on me, huh?"

"Yup." Astrid leaned into him smugly. "Vikings and dragons do better when they work together."

They were silent for a moment, then Hiccup laughed.

"What?" Astrid felt something warm inside her chest. She shivered involuntarily as a nighttime breeze passed, and Hiccup's arm automatically pulled her closer.

"Oh, nothing." Hiccup's voice was somewhat mocking. "Just Astrid Hofferson working with dragons."

"That's Mrs. Haddock to you." She poked him in the abdomen. Hiccup's flight suit popped open in response, the arm wings blanketing the two of them from the cold.

"Odin alive! I swear I got that fixed." Hiccup fiddled furiously with his armor.

Astrid laughed. Down the cove, Toothless was sticking his head into the water to look at the tiny dragons. Stormfly squawked at him somewhat disapprovingly, tilting her head in protest.

"I had forgotten how hard-headed I was when I was younger." Astrid conceded after a moment.

"' _Was_?'" Hiccup asked, laughing and miming pain when she punched him in the shoulder. Astrid smiled at him.

"I thought it was sort of endearing, in a murderous Viking sort of way." Hiccup admitted, only somewhat sarcastically. "It's not every day I get to see a raging fourteen-year-old Astrid swinging her axe at my dragon because he was attacked by a hoard of small children."

Astrid's hand drifted again to her abdomen. She was starting to feel a small bump form—barely noticeable to the eye, but it meant the world to her. Hiccup's hand moved so that it rested on top of hers.

"So," Hiccup's voice drew out in its adorably awkward way. "Is it too early to start suggesting baby names?"

"From you?" Astrid asked and looked up at him. "Always." She laughed.

"What's so funny?" Hiccup feigned indignation, pulling away slightly. Astrid crinkled her nose at him in a pronounced frown when she was no longer blanketed by his warmth. Hiccup began gesturing with his hands, his shoulders bouncing in a very Hiccup way. "I'll have you know that I'm incredibly talented when it comes to names."

"What," Astrid gave him a half-lidded stare. "You mean like 'Toothless?' I don't want the child of the Chief running around being called 'Toothless the Second.'"

Hiccup laughed, then thought about it. "You know, it wouldn't be all bad. They are born without teeth."

"Hiccup!" Astrid punched him again, earning a small 'ouch!'—which made her smile—and a sheepish grin from Hiccup.

"No, not Toothless." Hiccup's fingers twitched nervously when he wrapped his arm back around her, and Astrid could tell that he was resisting running a hand through his hair. "But why not Astrid the Second?"

The Viking-ess scoffed, thinking at first that it was a joke. "And what if it's a boy?" Astrid asked playfully.

"You're the fiercest Viking I know." Hiccup stared into her eyes, and Astrid froze, staring back at him. Her boots dug into the sand and her chest felt hot. "I doubt that anyone would pick on the child of Astrid Hofferson-Haddock for something as silly as a name." He laughed again, this time somewhat forced. "It's far better than Hiccup, anyway."

"Well," Astrid propped herself up on her elbows and then onto her knees, turning to look her husband in the eyes. "I think that any Viking would feel honored to be named Hiccup after everything you've done."

She held his face in her hands. "You're more a man than most Vikings I've ever met."

Hiccup blushed and laughed, and this time his laugh was real and full. "What?" he asked, "With these scrawny things?" He waved his arms about as though they were chicken wings.

"Yes." Astrid told him seriously. "I don't want our baby to have an ugly face to intimidate its enemies or a fierce battle cry that will make armies freeze. I want it to have this." She placed her finger on his forehead. "And this." Astrid placed the palm of her hand over his heart.

The two of them collapsed back onto the sand and listened for a while to the sounds of Toothless splashing in the distance while Stormfly squawked at him in protest.

"What are you thinking?" Astrid asked at last.

"I'm thinking that I'm the luckiest Viking in the Archipelago." Hiccup commented, squeezing her shoulder. "Aaaand, I'm thinking that maybe Viggo's right about sending a terror mail back to Berk."

Astrid shifted so that she was on her side in order to look Hiccup in the face. "As much as I hate to admit it, I think so, too."

The two of them stared out into the cove together, watching the glowing dragons drift in and out with the gentle tide.

"I have a bad feeling about all of this." Astrid spoke, her hand tightening around Hiccup's.

"When it comes to Drago," Hiccup noted, "a bad feeling is probably the smartest feeling you can have."

* * *

 **So I wrote this chapter before I listened to the second HTTYD book, but it all works out perfectly, because in the book Hiccup mentions tiny phosphorescent dragons called Electric Squirms that reside in caves and moist, dark places. So I made something accidentally canon! Haha. I'll take what I can get. Thank goodness for Cressida Cowell and her convenient little details.**

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **Ceo160:**

 **Ha! I'm glad you liked the spitting part. Younger Hiccup is receiving a lot of surprising information; it's a bit hard to handle. Props to Viggo for keeping his composure, though. As for Astrid, that scene is coming up. Eventually all of them will figure out that Older Astrid is pregnant.**

 **S.H:**

 **Oh my goodness! That's so cool! I'm not giving any specific name ideas (mostly because I'm too afraid to depart from the canon), but I seriously considered changing the chapter to put in the name for you. I understand your mother's hesitance to a certain extent-Fanfiction has a creepy dark underbelly that I personally abhor (it was one of the reasons that I stopped writing Fanfiction for a long time. In my opinion, when you twist the characters to do sexual things that you envision without considering whether the characters would ever actually engage in such behavior, it's not fanfiction, it's just perverted.)-but I also don't want you to feel sophocated as a writer. It's nice to get feedback, and I hope someday that your mother won't look quite as harshly upon our little writing community. I am glad that you like my story so much and that you've stuck with it despite the pressure at home to stay away from Fanfiction.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello, wonderful readers! I have a family event tomorrow and I'm busy today, so I'm updating now. I wanted to warn you: I like to stay three chapters ahead when it comes to updating, but I've been in a sort of rut lately. This is the last chapter that I have fully written. I'll do my best to continue to update weekly, and I do have pieces of the next chapter written, but it's sort of choppy right now, and I don't want to give you a bad-quality chapter. In any case, I have a week to sort that out, so I'll do what I can to give you the quality that you deserve on time. But if I can't finish it on time for whatever reason, I wanted all of you to be aware.**

 **Part of the problem is that we're gearing up for the action scenes, and I'm absolutely horrendous at writing those. I've been procrastinating out of fear of failure, and look where it's gotten me. . . .**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD, which is probably a good thing. I'm terrible with deadlines. . . .**

* * *

Part 10:

In the wee hours of the morning, Snotlout awoke to find two empty beds in the hut, coupled with bouts of mischievous laughter that obviously belonged to the Twins. He peered groggily out the hut door and into the not-quite lighted world as Ruffnut and Tuffnut did a terrible job of sneaking away. The two of them had broken into a brawl and were rolling across the grass, fighting over . . . Was that a fish?

"What are you two mutton-heads doing?!" Snotlout whisper-yelled, marching over and yanking the Thorston Twins apart.

"She started it." Tuffnut pointed at his sister petulantly. "Ow!" He yelled as Ruffnut punched him. He slapped back at her, and Snotlout let go of his hold on them in order to avoid being maimed.

"You hid the fish last time." Ruffnut argued. "Now it's my turn."

"But this one's the salmon." Tuffnut waved his pointer finger in her face. "We agreed that _I_ would get to hide the salmon."

"For Thor's sake, what is so important about salmon?!" Snotlout yelled above the fighting Twins.

Ruffnut rolled her eyes and groaned as Tuffnut turned, a gleam in his gaze.

"You see, my dear, fine Snot-man," Tuffnut wrapped one arm around Snotlout's shoulders, using the other to gesture grandly to the sky. "We are on a dangerous, yet thrilling adventure—a task to discover what sort of fish a lycanwing finds most appetizing. And I happen to think that salmon is our best contender."

"Lycanwing." Snotlout said blankly.

"Hiccup's mom." Ruffnut supplied. "Doi."

"Gods above." Snotlout groaned. "You can't be serious."

"Hey, if Hiccup's mom is part dragon," Ruffnut mused, ignoring Snotlout, "Does that mean that _Hiccup_ is part dragon, too?"

Tuffnut laughed. "And that baby H is part dragon."

"Would you stop that?" Snotlout asked, annoyed. "Valka is not part dragon! She's obviously some skin-changing creature that crawled out of Breakneck Bog and is here to eat our flesh and feast on our hearts."

The Twins stared at him. Tuffnut sighed and tutted at Snotlout's ignorance. Ruff shook her head, her eyes half-lidded with a condescending, pitying expression.

"And who is baby H?!" Snotlout yelled. "Will someone please explain this to me!"

Tuffnut held up his pointer finger dramatically and opened his mouth to respond, but the Jorgenson cut him off.

"You know what?" Snotlout amended, "Nevermind. I don't want to know."

"What are you sons of a mutton-headed ninny doing?" Astrid materialized next to them, and Snotlout shrieked just a little. It was a very manly shriek, he consoled himself. It most certainly didn't sound like a little girl, or a screaming yak calf. "You're going to wake up Hiccup!"

"You mean that Hiccup?" Tuffnut asked, pointed behind them. The young Haddock was standing at the entrance to the hut. Snotlout wondered for a moment if his cousin had been practicing his deadpan expression. Maybe he had slept that way and his face had gotten stuck forever in an immortal image of sarcasm.

Astrid glared at the three of them. "Great. This is exactly what I meant."

Hiccup wandered towards them, his hands twitching in a way that told Snotlout they were about to receive a lecture.

"Thor above! You know, Astrid, I really just don't understand you." Hiccup rattled off in a tone somewhere between nervousness and exasperation. "First you tell me you have no interest in me, and then you spend all of your time obsessing over my family, accusing my mother of being some crazy dragon lady out to destroy the Viking world."

He paused and thought about it for a moment. Astrid stared at him pointedly. She hummed in expectation.

"What?" He asked defensively. Hiccup sighed. "Okay, so she's definitely a crazy dragon lady."

Astrid crossed her arms and smirked victoriously. "That's what I thought."

"But!" Hiccup held up his hands to stop her. "She's not out to kill us or enslave us! Come one, guys. This isn't some sort of mind control. And now Snotlout thinks she's some flesh-eating bog monster! And the Twins think she's, what? Half-dragon?"

"A lycanwing, actually." Tuffnut corrected. "And we've almost proven it, too."

"Guys!" Hiccup shouted into his palms as he buried his face in his hands, digging his fingers into his hair.

"Wait a minute." Astrid frowned. "These three didn't say anything about mind control."

As she narrowed her eyes, Fishlegs stuck his head tentatively out of the hut, waving nervously at them. "Sorry Astrid." He shuffled out into the open. "I just figured I should tell Hiccup. You know, in case we had to warn him?"

Snotlout threw his hands up into the air and snorted in disgust. "Well that's just great, Fish-face. Look what you did now. This was an incognito mission!"

"What incognito mission?" Stoick's low voice reverberated through the trees. The Chief had spent the night with his wife in her cabin, but it seemed that he had returned. Valka was at his side, her dragon looming tall behind them. Snotlout skittered backwards before he caught himself, laughing nervously as the creature tilted its head and stared at him.

"Astrid thinks that Valka is the reason everyone is running around with dragons, and that she has some evil plan to brainwash us all." Tuffnut spoke up informatively. "But we know that's not true. She's obviously half-dragon. Either that, or she's a dragon wearing a human skin to disguise her very non-human characteristics."

Ruffnut held up the fish again, and Tuffnut grabbed it excitedly. He threw the salmon at Valka's feet. She stared of it, then laughed. Cloud Jumper sniffed at the fish and blinked at the Twins with large, mesmerizing eyes.

"Drat." Tuffnut frowned. "Hmmmm. Well, I guess we can cross salmon off the list. Apparently lycanwings have very specific feeding fetishes." Tuff began listing fish names and staring into Valka's eyes, watching her closely to gage her reaction.

Valka came over and ruffled Hiccup's hair. "I do like your peculiar friends, Hiccup. They're quite charming. Seeing all of you at a younger age is endearing."

"Valka is not a lycanwing." Stoick told them sternly. "And she certainly isn't a dragon wearing human skin. I might have expected this from the Thorstons, but not from you, Astrid."

Snotlout enjoyed the fact that he was presently being ignored—something that he usually minded. In this case, he figured that the Chief's attention was better served on someone else.

"But isn't she the reason that Hiccup is so obsessed with dragons?" Astrid demanded. "Isn't she why all of this is happening?"

"Goodness, no." Valka smiled at her fondly. "Hiccup was riding Toothless for years before he stumbled upon me. I had been hiding out, protecting the King of Dragons from Drago and his men. Imagine my surprise when Hiccup came flying in on his Night Fury. At first he thought I was his father, riding after him to bring him back home. That was quite a turn-around for me: Stoick riding dragons." She chuckled. "I never thought it would be possible."

Snotlout frowned. Astrid's idea had made some sense. Even now, he couldn't imagine Hiccup training a dragon all on his own or changing the mind of Stoick, let alone the rest of the village. At least when they were blaming Valka the story had been believable.

"I actually came to borrow you, Hiccup." Valka commented, kneeling down and placing her hand on her son's shoulder. "Do you think that would be alright? We can spend some time together, just the two of us. I never really got to know you at this age. And maybe, . . . Well, maybe there are some questions I can answer."

Snotlout noted that Hiccup looked like his heart was going to explode. The boy's expression flickered from emotion to emotion. Snotlout rolled his eyes as Hiccup tried to hide his blushing face and act nonchalant.

"I, uh, sure! I mean, it's not like I was doing anything else today, or ever for that matter. Unless-"

Hiccup looked at Stoick, who simply smiled and nodded.

The group of younger Vikings watched Hiccup and his mother walk off, chittering mindlessly to each other. Behind them, Valka's dragon followed at an easy pace.

"Hey," Snotlout commented to himself, looking around the group, "Where's Astrid?"

* * *

Valka noticed Hiccup's nervous twitches as she led him through the forest. At every squawk of a Terrible Terror—ever crack of a branch in the distance—Hiccup seemed to flinch and curl in on himself a little further.

It reminded her of the small babe that he had been, scared to death of the stuffed dragon she had made for him—a creature which she had later used as inspiration for her flight suit and mask. This little boy was certainly not the confident, slightly-reckless leader who her son had become. This was . . . This was unfamiliar territory for Valka.

Valka had dealt with nervous dragons before, but it had been a long time since she'd had to worry about a nervous human. Even after having spent a year back in the village, Valka was slightly uncomfortable with so much human contact. That, and upon seeing Hiccup's acceptance of her, Berk had welcomed here back with open arms. But this younger Hiccup might not be so inclined, Valka recognized. He had been excited and astonished the day before, but Valka understood that once astonishment faded, other feelings tended to surface in its place.

Astrid had told her about the childhood that Hiccup had braved— a father who was off on Voyages half his life; a village that considered him a useless, fishbone of a boy who would never be a proper Viking. It had taken Hiccup longer to confide these details with Valka, and even then he had left out so much. It was a long time ago, Hiccup had insisted in defense of his friends and his people. He understood all of it, and he didn't blame them. Maybe . . . Maybe it had even been good for him!

Valka did not agree, and she knew that, deep down, neither did Hiccup. The young Chief was trying to make her feel better about not coming home sooner. If she hadn't stayed with the Bewilderbeast, Hiccup would argue, Drago would have found it sooner. While this was true, Valka did not feel less guilty. She had doubted Stoick's capacity for change, and in a way she had doubted Hiccup as well. Valka had assumed that the boy would grow to be more like his father, and in turn she had silently accused her family of being vicious, unforgiving killers.

Looking at this Younger Hiccup now—a boy whose face was an open book of emotions—Valka saw that he was indeed struggling. He had so many questions, she was sure, but not all of them were ones that he was eager to ask.

Valka paused in her walking, and Hiccup stumbled to a stop next to her. She looked down at him sadly, but lovingly.

"I suppose you're wondering why I stayed away so long." Valka's honeyed voice broke their silence, and the forest itself seemed to quiet, waiting for Hiccup's reply.

"I- . . . I understand." Hiccup admitted slowly, then amended with a small "I think." His hands shot out in a 'stop' motion, defending his words. "I've been thinking about it. You spent all this time with dragons, and Berk isn't like that. Vikings are . . . Well, they're . . . We're stubborn."

"Yes." Valka's voice once again seemed to bring silence. "But?"

"I understand," Hiccup admitted again, "I'm just not sure I'm ready for all of this yet."

Cloud Jumper peered at the boy curiously, looming over Valka's head. Hiccup flinched back a bit, stumbling on his own feet.

"It's alright." Valka soothed, placing one of her hands on Cloud Jumper's head and holding out the other one slowly towards Hiccup. "You've ridden her, remember? She won't hurt you."

"Sorry." Hiccup apologized. "This is all sort of new."

At that moment, another dragon landed in the clearing. Its bright, graceful wings folded against its majestic body, and a man slid down its side.

"Ah! Mother and son bonding at last." Viggo smiled at Valka. "I was out for a flight on this beautiful dragon and couldn't help but stop by when I saw you down below. And what a pleasant surprise to find the two of you together."

"You're the man that sent us here." Hiccup noted, staring at Viggo. Then he blushed. "Um. . . Haha. I'm sorry about last night, and the, um, yak milk."

"Don't worry about it, my boy." Viggo reassured him with a grin. "It made Astrid laugh, at the very least. I'm not sure I've ever seen her smile before in my presence. A nice change of pace from her usual ferocious scowl."

Valka thought she heard a rustling in the bushes off to their left. She turned back to Viggo. "Would you excuse me a moment? I think we have some unexpected guests."

Viggo raised an eyebrow at her, bemused. "You trust me to be alone with Hiccup?"

"I trust my son's judgement." Valka corrected him immediately. "And he seems to think that you mean no harm. And besides," The woman smiled at him. "As I recall, during our first meeting you didn't put up much of a fight when it came to sharing information. You melted like a muddy boar pit in the heat of July."

"That is true." Viggo admitted, lips twitching. "In any case, I have no intent to harm the boy. He'll be fine while you step away."

As Valka made her way towards the suspicious patch of overgrowth, she heard Viggo proclaiming "You know, Hiccup, each version of you continues to intrigue and fascinate me."

* * *

Younger Astrid had been dutifully following Hiccup and his mother into the woods, convincing herself that she was in fact _not_ obsessed and that she was simply trying to protect the tribe, when she had run into herself.

The two Astrids had looked at each other in shock, then peered through to bushes to where the strange man with the scarred face had materialized next to Hiccup and Valka.

"I was never here." Older Astrid gestured with her axe to her younger counterpart. "You were never here."

"Fine by me." Younger Astrid affirmed testily. "It's good to finally see _someone_ on this crazy island showing some Viking common sense."

"I'm glad to see you two getting along."

Both Astrids jumped at the sound of Valka's voice. The woman stood behind them, arms folded and a sly smile on her face.

Younger Astrid tensed, until she saw the sheepish grin on Older Astrid's face, accompanied by a vivid blush.

"Some things never change, I suppose." Valka laughed and looked between the two. "And I suppose you were watching Viggo?" She looked at Older Astrid pointedly.

Older Astrid stared back out towards where Younger Hiccup and Viggo were talking. Viggo was showing Hiccup his dragon, explaining details about the Time Breaker and pointing at parts of it anatomy.

"I know that Hiccup trusts him." Astrid admitted, "But sometimes Hiccup sees the good he wants in other people instead of looking at what's there."

"I suppose." Valka admitted. "But old grudges are a dangerous way to measure character. When I met Hiccup I couldn't believe that his father had accepted dragons. The fact that he was _riding_ them was inconceivable. It was Hiccup who believed that Stoick could find peace with dragons—a dream that I spent years trying to convince him to follow—and it was Hiccup who finally led first Berk, and then the Archipelago, to that end."

"I know." Younger Astrid watched her Older self smile. "I love that Hiccup is so trusting. It makes him better than the rest of us in ways. But I don't want anyone to hurt him again. Not like . . . Not like last time."

Valka's smile fell a bit.

"I trust Hiccup's judgment, in this case." Valka told them. "Drago won't hurt us again, and Viggo doesn't want to."

"How do you know?" Younger Astrid spoke up suspiciously.

Valka turned her eyes to the teen. "I was incredibly persistent with him when we found each other on Berserker Island." She laughed. "He babbled like a child."

"He really told you everything." Older Astrid stared in amazement. "We could have used you when we were fighting against him. Valka, you're incredible."

"Yes, well, I know someone else who's especially persistent." Valka turned her gaze upon the Younger Astrid. Astrid tensed and fidgeted in response.

"Do you still believe that I'm here to brainwash the Archipelago?" Older Astrid's eyes shot up at Valka's question. The young woman looked over at her Younger self.

"You what?" Astrid asked the teenager.

"You're riding _dragons_ ," Younger Astrid pointed out, "and you're surprised because I thought Hiccup's mom was a fake?"

"It's alright." Valka assured. "It was amusing, actually. And that's not the worst of it. The Thorstons thought that I was a lycanwing."

Older Astrid scoffed, still somewhat miffed by her younger self. "Lycanwings don't exist."

"Oh, yes they do." Valka spoke sagely. The two girls stared at her, eyes wide. "I've seen plenty of proof while living out with the dragons. Except that it's not a bite that changes them. The pathogen transfers when specific breeds of dragon break human skin with their claws. Just a small scratch with do it. But the strain lies dormant in the human until around the age of twenty-five."

The Astrids gawked.

"Well, why did you think that Toothless and Hiccup got on so well?" Valka asked. "Cloud Jumper scratched him when he was only a babe, you know. When the pathogen's contracted earlier it tends to have more varied effects."

"Haha. Very funny, mom." Teenage Hiccup appeared behind Valka, apparently having finished his conversation with Viggo. The boy swung his fists across each other in an awkward gesture of humor, elbows out. "That was- That was a joke, right? You are- You are joking?"

"Of course, dear." Valka pulled him into a side hug and stroked his hair. She laughed heartily. "There are no such things as lycanwings. Not that I've ever seen, anyway. And after twenty years living with dragons, you'd think that I'd have some evidence by now if they existed."

"By Odin above, Valka." Older Astrid's hands were clutched to her stomach. "I may like you, but if the baby comes out with wings, you are going to become very well acquainted with my battle axe."

Younger Astrid's blood ran cold. Her axe dropped from her grip and thumped against the ground.

"Baby?"

Valka, Hiccup, and Older Astrid all stared at her. Hiccup went a deep red color, and Younger Astrid realized why. She was looking at her future husband. Her mind went blank.

"Baby." Astrid stared down at her axe. "Well that's just great."

"Yes." Viggo's voice mused from behind them. "I could explain it if you like. You see when a Chief and an Axe-Wielding Warrior love each other very much-"

"NO!" The Astrids screamed together in unison. Viggo had the gall to smile.

"Right." The scarred man trod back towards his dragon. "Pleasant seeing all of you. I think I'm going to go ask Hiccup if he'd like to try his hand at a game of Maces and Talons."

Younger Astrid gripped her axe fiercely and huffed. She looked over to see her older self standing in the exact same position. Valka came over and placed her hand on Older Astrid's shoulder, and the woman relaxed.

Younger Astrid lowered her axe, then looked back at Hiccup.

"Fine." She conceded, still eyeing Valka. "I'll trust her. But only because _she_ does." Here Astrid pointed at her older self.

"Glorious." Valka smiled. "Now, who here would like to go and watch that game of Maces and Talons?"

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **Ceo160:**

 **Yeah. I thought I'd slip the bewilderbeast in there, but I'm probably not going to focus on it too much. Another review had asked about what happened to Drago's bewilderbeast, so I thought I'd address it in passing. It's true that there's a lot that the younger Vikings still don't know about the future, and the older Vikings aren't doing much to share that information. Everyone is sort of scrambling around, not sure what to do. I figured that was a realistic way to handle it.**

 **S.H:**

 **So true. Not sure where the Twins are getting Shakespeare from. Those two are truely a wonder. As for younger Astrid, I know that she's being pretty stubborn. After this many chapters it might seem like she should have become more accepting by now, but remember that this is only the second day they've been on the island. My pacing makes it seem slow, but I'm taking the time to examine all of these complex emotions that were bound to take place in this sort of crazy situation. And you're right, it definitely makes it easier to see the character development.**


	11. Chapter 11

**So this chapter is somewhat shorter than my more recent chapters, but I figured that most of you wouldn't mind. You've all been wonderful readers, and you knew that I was struggling with this chapter. Thank you for being so wonderful and supportive throughout this whole process, especially while I was wrestling with this chapter this past week. I love that I have such kind, dedicated readers.**

 **The reason I'm updating today is that I'll be in a car all day tomorrow (this is sort of becoming a pattern for me, isn't it). This next week is going to be incredibly hectic for me, and although I have portions of future chapters finished, my next chapter is nowhere near done. In fact, I've barely started writing it. My life has been chaotic because I'm moving out of summer-mode.**

 **Again, I'll try my very best to update on time. I don't intend to abandon you; I'm simply warning you that the chapter might not come on time. I do intend to finish this story, especially since there are quite a few segments that I've written that I'm excited to share. But I do want to make sure that I'm producing quality chapters and that I'm not simply writing in order to meet a deadline.**

 **Also, just a cute little note: I re-watched Big Hero 6 recently and realized that Fred and Tuffnut are voiced by the same actor. Just thought I'd share that little tidbit.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD.**

* * *

Part 11:

Stoick peered over the crowd of Vikings. He and the younger Vikings had made their way into the village only to be pulled along by the crowd towards the arena. In Stoick's time, the arena was still used for dragon fighting, but in this strange future it seemed that the Chiefs had converted it into a tamer stage, using the pens around the outside as a stable area for their dragons. The creatures stuck their heads out, nodding in a docile manner and occasionally squawking at each other. Some rotated their heads like Valka's dragon tended to do and stared at the display in front of them.

In the center of the ring, Viggo and Hiccup said across from each other on wooden benches. A slightly larger-than average set of Maces and Talons was set up so that the crowd could more easily see the moves that the players made. As Hiccup shifted a piece, the Vikings in the crowd let out a collective "Ooooooooo" of interest.

"What technique's he using?" one of the Vikings to Stoick's right whispered.

"Don't be daft." another Viking snapped back. "Hiccup Haddock against Viggo Grimborn? Neither of them will be using any technique _you_ would recognize."

"Well do you recognize it, then?" the first Viking questioned.

"Of course!" the second one squeaked. "But I'm not about to tell you what it is!"

Valka chuckled from where she now stood by Stoick's side. From somewhere within the crowd, Queen Mala appeared next to them, smiling kindly.

"This has been a day long in the making." she informed Stoick in her low, soft voice. "Your son is quite the skilled tactician. He and Viggo have been playing a battle of the minds for years. We are truly fortunate to be here to see this game unfold."

Across the ring, the Thorston Twins seemed to have caught on to the excitement behind the event. Although they had little interest in the game itself, Tuffnut and Ruffnut seemed completely invested in the gambling ring that had developed within the past few minutes. They had set up a table and were collecting gold pieces from the various Chiefs. The Twins shouted out encouragements and riled up the crowd.

Stoick sighed. He looked at Valka. "I don't suppose those two get any easier to deal with in the future?"

His wife laughed— a bubbling, honeysuckle sound. "Most certainly not. Hiccup's told me that they've devoted themselves to Loki. The two of them are troublemakers to rival the god himself. Thankfully, Hiccup seems to have a handle on them half the time, which is more than what I can say for the rest of us."

A puff of pride swelled in Stoick's chest, and he turned to the game with a new gleam in his eye. Hiccup, as it turned out, was far more than simply a Dragon Master. The boy had grown up into a Chief.

Stoick had intended to talk to Hiccup as soon as he could. His stomach still broiled uncomfortably as he thought about the conversation that he meant to have with his son, but he'd worked up the courage to speak to Hiccup, and Stoick wasn't going to back out now.

Of course, if Hiccup was in the middle of a game of Maces and Talons, there wasn't much that he could do about it.

The crowd let out another collective sound of fascination. Stoick saw Tuffnut's snickering face from across the arena where he seemed to have found a cone device that would magnify his sound—likely a hollowed-out dragon horn of some sort. He elbowed Ruffnut as she reached for it and he raised it to his lips.

"It's a beautiful day in the Archipelago, ladies, gentlemen, and Ruffnut." Tuff pushed his sister out of his face again. "We're here, live—because we couldn't be speaking to you if we were dead—to narrate this intense and dangerous game of. . . ."

He turned to his sister. "What are they playing again?"

Ruffnut grabbed the dragon horn. "Maces and Talons!"

The crowd stared at them. Hiccup gave them a half-lidded stink-eye from the center of the arena. Viggo stared at the board, seemingly unfazed, but carrying a small smirk on his face. He rubbed his chin with one hand and bent lower over the board.

No one moved.

"Well, do something!" Ruffnut yelled.

"Something interesting!" Tuffnut yelled from off to the side, still struggling to win back the dragon horn from his sister. "So we can commentate!"

"No." Valka laughed again, and Stoick decided that this was one mess he would be happy to sit back and watch unfold. "They certainly don't get any easier to live with. But the two of them keep things interesting.

Stoick glanced around the arena one last time, taking into account Fishlegs and Snotlout, wrestling their way through the mass of Vikings in order to get a better view. He peered at the crowd again.

"Where are Hiccup and Astrid?"

* * *

Younger Astrid had refused to ride on the dragon. The walk back to the arena near the village was long and uncomfortable, but Astrid didn't care. There was no way she was climbing onto that scaly death-lizard with a crazy dragon lady and Hiccup Haddock of all people, even if her older self was willing. By the time that they'd neared the arena, the Viking Chiefs and their families had packed themselves tight against the metal netting and were staring down at Hiccup and Viggo in hushed anticipation.

Valka had wandered off somewhere to find Stoick, and Astrid's future self had gone in search of her Deadly Nadder. So now Astrid was stuck with Hiccup.

Not for long, if she could help it.

Astrid turned to the other teenager and brandished her weapon at him. "You, stay here. You can enjoy your wonderful dragon-infested future and some lousy game of Maces and Talons. If I have to stare into the face of one more person today there's going to be an axe sticking out of somebody's skull."

Hiccup put his hands up protectively and scrunched his arms in towards his body, laughing nervously as he backed into a viciously cheering Viking. Once Astrid was satisfied that he'd been sufficiently terrified, she turned her back on the future Chief and made her way out of the arena, ignoring the shouts of Tuffnut and he and Ruffnut commentated for the "M and T games." She rolled her eyes. Maces and Talons. Vikings weren't built for board games; they were born for battle.

* * *

Toothless paced around the arena restlessly, then flopped onto the ground in a practiced pout. Hiccup had been so busy with his Chief-ing duties these past few days that they'd barely had time to fly together. Toothless had been left alone to prowl the island, neglected by his favorite human, and terrorized by small children.

Admittedly, Toothless had enjoyed the mystery of the small humans who had appeared two days before. They smelled like Hiccup and his dragon riders. They looked and talked and acted like Hiccup's dragon riders. But smaller, and angrier, and more afraid.

But Toothless had stayed away from the tiny humans. He had stayed away because one of them smelled like Stoick, and that smell made Toothless feel sad and guilty and ashamed.

That smell made Hiccup sad, too. Toothless could sense the sadness on his human; he never wanted Hiccup to feel that way again.

So he had allowed the tiny blond child to ride on his head, leading her cohort of little children and screaming with piercingly-loud shrieks of glee as Toothless tromped and pounced across the island. And Toothless had been rewarded with a flight with Hiccup earlier that morning in order to check over the island's defenses one last time, warbling happily at the ninja-like men that Queen Mala had stationed at the lookout posts. Toothless had hoped that meant that he and Hiccup would have the day to themselves. Instead Hiccup had sat in the arena with the no-longer-bad man to play with small pieces of stone.

Toothless huffed and deflated, his ear flaps twitching in annoyance. He didn't understand what was so interesting about small stone pieces. He huffed again, shifting to look towards the arena in the distance once again.

From within the arena crept out the smaller human that smelled like his human's mate. She stared at Toothless, freezing as their eyes met. The little Astrid blinked, broke away from Toothless's gaze, and strode away from the area towards the forest, not looking back.

Behind her, another small human exited the arena. This was the little Viking that smelled like Hiccup. Without taking his eyes off of Astrid, little Hiccup followed her at a distance.

Toothless perked up, a thoughtful rumble vibrating in his throat. He moved to his feet and prowled into the forest, following after Hiccup as the boy trailed behind Astrid.

* * *

The forest was quieter than it had been when Hiccup had walked in it earlier that morning with his mother. The dragons weren't screeching nearly as loudly as they had been—or even at all—for which Hiccup was grateful, but the silence felt eerie. He inched forward nervously and called out to the girl in front of him.

"Astrid, wait!"

The teenage Viking roared in frustration, swinging her axe from her back and embedding it into the tree next to her.

"You know what, Hiccup," she whirled on him. "I get that in the future we have this whole _thing_ , but that doesn't mean that you have to follow me around like some sort of lost puppy."

Hiccup stopped short, his scrawny fourteen-year-old form shuffling awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean- It's just that there are dragons all over the island, and my dad said not to go off alone, and-"

"Yes, Hiccup." Astrid's voice was beyond exasperated. "There are dragons. There are dragons _everywhere_. All thanks to _you_ , apparently."

She tugged her axe free from the tree, stumbling back a bit from the effort.

"You know what bothers me?" Astrid asked, gesturing towards him with her large, dangerous weapon. Hiccup's feet automatically carried him backwards, and he thankfully caught himself before he could fall on his butt. "My whole life has been dragons-dragons-dragons. A constant struggle. A war that our parents were about to hand over to us that we were supposed to win or die trying. And you just swoop in out of nowhere and what? Do some magic mind control thing and all of a sudden everything is just _fine_? I'm sorry if I don't automatically believe that."

"Astrid," Hiccup tittered a high, awkward, nervous laugh. "That's what this is about? All of that stuff with my mom? You being all aggressive?" He stopped, then backtracked. "Not that you're not amazing when you're aggressive. I actually really- Um. You know what . . ." He opened his mouth to continue and realized he was at a loss of what to say.

"I've been training my whole life, Hiccup. My _whole life_. And just like that some scrawny kid with no experience saves the day without killing a single dragon. All of my training—my entire life—suddenly becomes _useless_ because some mutton-brained fishbone rides in on a dragon and rewrites our entire Viking code."

"You are wrong." A deep, gravely voice rumbled from somewhere behind Astrid. Hiccup shivered and stepped back as Astrid turned slowly, carefully around, gripping her axe defensively. "Your oh-so-mighty Dragon Master killed a dragon when he lost his leg."

A broad-shouldered figure stepped out from the shadows of the trees. He was cloaked in a cape of dark dragon scales, and one arm hung limply at his side. Dark, greasy dreadlocks draped around his face, and his offset jaw seemed to be crafted in a permanent, malicious scowl. The figure nodded and men circled around them, emerging from the trees. It was not lost upon Hiccup that this was the second time in so many days that he had been ambushed by unfamiliar men. He had a foreboding feeling that the end of this encounter would be far less pleasant than the first.

The large, darkly dressed figure stared down at them, a smirk that shook Hiccup to the bone cutting its way across the man's face. "And the Dragon Master is about to lose so much more."

* * *

Astrid stared fondly at Hiccup from where she stood in Stormfly's pen. She had spent the beginning of the game grooming her dragon, and routine had soothed the Nadder into a comfortable sleep. Astrid rubbed the scales of her purring dragon as she met Hiccup's eyes across the arena. Striding out of her dragon's pen, she made her way to Hiccup's side. The Viking woman placed her hands on Hiccup's shoulders and her chin on his head, staring down at the imaginary battlefield.

"Enjoying yourself?" Astrid asked, smiling.

"I mean," Hiccup grinned softly, his eyes alight with fire. "It's not the worst thing in the world. I do have to admit that it's nice to play a normal, non-life-and-death version of Maces and Talons in which my friends and family aren't the pawns."

"Mmmm. Yes." Viggo mused. "I suppose I should apologize for that. But I was selfish at the time; having a capable opponent was simply too much fun to quit."

"You know Viggo," Hiccup grinned. "I'm sort of surprised that you challenged me to a rematch after I beat you the first time."

Viggo looked up at the Chief, his eyes glinting. "Beat me, Hiccup Haddock? As I recall, I had the upper hand for most of our little game. You may have won me over to your side, but I would call that a draw. After all, the rules of the real game don't give you any points for befriending your enemy."

"Maybe it's time to change the game, then." Astrid commented, slipping onto the bench next to Hiccup and leaning in to place a quick kiss on his cheek. Her fingers moved to play with one of his braids.

"Your style has changed." Hiccup commented, staring at the game set. Viggo had moved a piece with seemingly no purpose instead of attacking Hiccup with a piece on the other side of the board. Of course, if Viggo had attacked with that piece, Hiccup would have had an opportunity to kill it.

Viggo hummed in thought. "Yes." He smiled up at Hiccup. "How quaint of you to notice." He went back to staring at the board. "You taught me about the importance of protecting my assets, Hiccup. Not everything is as disposable as I once thought."

"But you're not protecting them." Hiccup's eyes flittered between Viggo and the board. "You could have withdrawn your piece to move him further from danger. Instead you moved a different piece with what I assume is a new strategy. You may not view them as disposable like you used to, but you're not protecting them the way that I would. This isn't something that you learned from me."

"No." Viggo admitted, meeting Hiccup's eyes again. "I've seen more than you can imagine, Hiccup—done incredible things with the Time Breaker. And I've learned along the way that while it is better to act with caution, sometimes you must let nature take its course."

He watched as Hiccup made a move on his defenseless piece.

"You may find that by protecting one piece, you destroy all of the others."

A bright streak of purple lit up the sky and exploded into a ring-shaped cloud.

"Toothless." Hiccup's gaze was sharp and focused. He and Astrid turned rigid in their seats. "That's his distress signal."

"That would be Drago." Viggo stood from the bench, his Time Breaker flying to his side. "Come, Hiccup Haddock, I'll give you a ride. We have no time to lose."

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **Ceo160:**

 **Thanks! Viggo is an amazing character and I love the dynamic that he adds to the story. Props to DreamWorks for making him so awesome. The younger Vikings will figure things out in bits and pieces along the way. It's true that I've left them in the dark for the most part, but I figured that that was a realistic way of portraying the chaos that comes with time travel.**

 **S.H:**

 **Hahaha. Thank you so much. That last chapter was a lot of fun to write. Yeah, the Twins are being ridiculous as always, and Astrid is being stubborn. She'll develop, though. She's being hard-headed because she's not sure how she fits into this new world, and she doesn't simply want to be seen as "Hiccup's wife."**


	12. Chapter 12

**So I want to start out by saying thank you for all of your kindness and patience. I've been struggling to finish this chapter because of my incredibly busy schedule. Unfortunately, I believe that I have to take my day-to-day schedule into consideration and change my fanfiction update schedule as a result. I'm planning on updating every other week instead of every week. I want to provide the best content possible, which means that I can't force myself to update once a week.**

 **If I do manage to finish a chapter early, I'll do my best to go back to the once-a-week schedule.**

 **I also know that this chapter is shorter than most of my other chapters. You'll have to bear with me. I wanted to give you quality, which doesn't always mean quantity. But I also didn't want you to have to wait any longer for it.**

 **Thank you again for all of the support.**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own HTTYD. I'm pretty sure that That would be a disaster. I'll leave it up to the experts.**

* * *

Part 12:

"I'm coming with you." Astrid insisted, shifting towards Stormfly's pen as the Vikings around the arena began to shift into Viking-panic-but-mostly-attack mode.

"Astrid, wait!" Hiccup slid off of the back of Viggo's dragon before they could take off and caught his wife by the arm, turning her to face him. "I need you to stay here."

"What?" Astrid's eyes burned with a warrior's fire. "Hiccup, you can't be-"

"I'm completely serious." The Chief stared her down. "Astrid, I've already lost my dad to this madman. I can't- You're- You're pregnant for Thor's sake. Please, just-"

Hiccup's fierce expression wilted into one of pleading, and Astrid's fiery fury melted.

"Alright." She gripped his hand tightly in hers. "I'll wait, but if I think you're in danger I'm not waiting behind. If there's even a chance that you might get hurt, there's no way I'm standing on the sidelines."

"Thank you." Hiccup pecked her cheek briefly and turned back to Viggo, pulling himself back up onto the Time Breaker's back.

"Just please, wait for my signal!" He called out, looking down at his wife as the dragon spread its wings.

"Knock 'em dead, babe!" Astrid yelled.

Valka made her way to Astrid's side as they watched Hiccup and Viggo fly towards the northern edge of the island.

"If I know anything about you, my dear, it's that you're not going to wait for Hiccup's signal." Valka chuckled darkly.

"Not a chance." Astrid spoke, sprinting off towards Stormfly's pen. "Drago's out there and Hiccup's trusting _Viggo_ to have his back? There's no way I'm letting him go out there alone."

"Good for you, Astrid." Valka winked, and Cloud Jumper landed beside her in the arena. "I didn't stop for a moment when I was pregnant with Hiccup, either."

Valka turned to the Viking Chiefs who had erupted into rumbles of confusion. "Chiefs of the Archipelago," Valka called out, "I believe it would be correct to assume that we are under attack. Kindly lend us your services in protecting our homes and our dragons!"

A tremendous shadow fell over them, and three dragons swooped down from the sky, landing beside them in the arena.

Snotlout leaned down from the neck of his Monstrous Nightmare. He smirked and winked.

"You called?"

* * *

Astrid Hofferson was not a coward. Of that fact, she was adamant. Like her family, she was fearless in the face of danger—fierce, fiery, and determined—at least she tried to be. And that meant never running. Regrouping, maybe; stalling, yes (preferable in the most ruthless way possible, potentially with a satisfyingly heart-stopping battle cry); but Hoffersons did not run.

Apparently that rule did not apply to Haddocks.

"'Scuse me." Hiccup muttered, trying to inch his way past one of Draco's men. "You guys look like you were on your way to something important? Huh? All dressed up for what? A raid?" He chucked nervously. Astrid stared at him. The Viking men stared at him. "Don't mind us. Just passing through, honestly. So if we could just-"

The Viking swung his hand out to grab Hiccup. The scrawny boy ducked, emitting a noise that sounded somewhere between an anxious laugh, a cough, and a squeak.

"Okay, then."

Of course, the swing put the man off guard, giving Astrid the perfect opportunity to slam into him and shove him aside with the flat of her battle axe.

"Whaaaaat are we doing?" Hiccup managed to croak as Astrid grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the woods.

"I'm turning your mutton-headed recklessness into a plan." Astrid told him, shoving him further past the trees.

Above them a shot of purple plasma burned up the sky. Astrid pushed further ahead. Somewhere behind them men started shouting. Something roared. The air sizzled, and something hot—likely more blasts of plasma—erupted in the forest.

"Find a weapon." Astrid ordered Hiccup. She ducked between the trees and peered behind them to see if they were being followed. Astrid cursed to herself. They should have headed back towards the arena to warn the other Vikings. It was too late now.

"What, you mean like a stick or something?"

"Odin above! You're the one who followed me out here, Hiccup. Just do something useful!"

Shadows swooped above them. Astrid looked up to see armored dragons flying through the sky. She supposed that if future-Chief-Hiccup could make dragons obedient to him, others could as well. And, if anything that Stoick said was true, Drago had been doing it for years. As she watched more closely, Astrid noticed a rider beating on his dragon's metal helmet when the creature tried to shift directions. She frowned. What she had seen from Older Hiccup had been kindness and a mutual respect towards dragons. This? This was dishonorable. This wasn't how a Viking fought. It wasn't ferocious or brave or daring.

This was cruelty.

"Astrid."

"I know." She spoke to Hiccup, gritting her teeth at the men in the sky. "I can see it."

"Astrid."

"I understand now Hiccup. You can stop."

" _Astrid_."

She stopped and finally looked at what Hiccup was pointing at.

A black-clad woman lay limp in the grass beneath one of the island's look-out posts. It was one of the Vikings who had apprehended them that first night on the island. The ones who served . . . What was her name? Queen Mala.

"They were on watch." Hiccup muttered. "They took out the guards. That's how they got onto the island."

"They has this planned." Astrid frowned suspiciously. "Is there a traitor?"

"I don't know." Hiccup spoke thoughtfully. "They have a time-traveling dragon. They could have attacked us tomorrow and failed for all we know. Or yesterday."

"This could be a do-over." Astrid's eyes widened. "But why wouldn't we remember?"

"Viggo told me that the dragon spit makes you forget." Hiccup muttered. His arms waved around stiffly. The palm of one hand pressed against his forehead. "Thor! I can't- I'm so stupid! He was talking to me about it earlier today, when I was with mom! Why didn't we think of this? Drago could attack any time he wanted, as many times as he wanted. He just needed the perfect opportunity to catch us off guard."

"And now you see, Dragon Master,"

Drago materialized above them; a Monstrous Nightmare flapped apathetically beneath him.

"You cannot win."

As Drago's dragon dove through the trees and Astrid deliberated whether to dodge or heft her axe through his skull, a great, black shadow lunged between her and Hiccup. Astrid stumbled back from the dragon, realizing too late that it was, in fact, a Night Fury—the only Night Fury in the island. Toothless cried out to her as he shielded Hiccup, but Astrid was too far away. As she vaulted to her feet, she felt a hand grasp tightly around her arm, and quite suddenly Astrid was in the air.

* * *

Astrid had never ridden on a dragon. She had made it very clear during her stay in the Future that she didn't want to ride a dragon. But at this moment, riding _on_ a dragon would have felt much better than dangling next to one, hanging in the open air.

Astrid did something that she had vowed she would never do in the face of danger. She screamed.

"Put me down!" She yelled, scratching at Drago's hand and wishing that she hadn't dropped her axe back in the forest. "Put Me Down!"

He loosened his grip slightly, forcing her to grab hold of him so as not to fall. Drago laughed. It was a deep, dark sound—evil, like the endless pit beyond the edge of the world.

"Fascinating." Drago narrowed his eyes at her. "You are as weak as your pathetic Chief at this age."

"You're going to regret that when she gets her axe back." A voice floated up to them. Astrid chanced a look towards the ground—which had turned to ocean somewhere in the past few minutes—and there beneath them sat the Chief of Berk, Hiccup Haddock III, riding on his dragon. "Astrid had one mean swing, especially at age fourteen. That was before she decided to show mercy."

She wanted to laugh, but the sound came out more as a strangled yelp, and Astrid could see in Hiccup's eyes that he was tenser than he was letting on. He tried to convey a calm sense of confidence, but the Chief was obviously distracted.

Astrid remembered in that moment that this was the man who had killed Hiccup's father.

When Astrid looked back down, Hiccup was gone. She heard a low growl and whirled around as best as she could. Toothless had swooped in front of the Monstrous Nightmare and was looking the creature in the eyes. The Night Fury evoked a commanding roar, and Drago's dragon shivered.

Then it set itself on fire.

Drago screamed, releasing Astrid, and the Viking girl fell towards the sea.

And then, instead of hitting the water, she was staring up into a pair of fierce green eyes.

"Are you alright?" Hiccup asked with an intensity she had never seen in him before. She nodded mutely.

"Then grab on to me." He swung her up behind him on his dragon. "And hold on tight."

Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup's chest and shut her eyes as they swooped downwards. She cracked them open just long enough to see the large ship that rested in the cove of the island—the island now teaming with hostile Vikings and dragons. And somewhere in the water, Drago Bloodfist still breathed.

* * *

Hiccup was feeling great.

Well, as great as a person could feel when he's just saved a de-aged version of his wife from the raving madman who'd killed his father and temporarily enslaved his best friend.

And then he saw the second Monstrous Nightmare gliding through the clouds beside him.

"Snotlout!" Hiccup called in exasperation.

"What?!" Snotlout protested, pulling up next to Hiccup on his dragon.

The Berkan Chief gave his cousin a pointed look, raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, come one, Hiccup." Snotlout hung his head back, staring up into the sky dramatically. "It's not like I left Berk unguarded. I put Eret in charge. Besides, they have the A-team."

Hiccup's deadpan expression didn't change.

"What do you want from me, Chief?" Snotlout splayed his arms in frustration. "We read your letter. You'd really rather trust _Viggo_ than work with us?"

"He's got a point, Hiccup!" Fishlegs flew in next to Snotlout on the right.

"Hey!" Ruffnut's voice called from just above Hiccup on the left. Barf's head hung low, and Ruff reached down and poked at Astrid, who gripped more tightly to the man in front of her. "Look!" Ruff exclaimed. "It's a tiny Astrid!"

Tuffnut laughed. "Look at the face she's giving you. It's a glare that says 'touch me again and I'll bite your fingers off and feed them to my dragon.' Not, of course, that she has a dragon yet. But, you know, when she gets her dragon. . . ."

Stormfly burst past them through the clouds. On her back, the Older Astrid turned to look at Hiccup and smirked.

"Oh look." Tuffnut supplied helpfully. "There she is. Hey Astrid! Did you see this tiny you!"

"I thought I told you to stay on the island!" Hiccup shouted. He sighed and looked down at Toothless, patting the Night Fury. "Nobody listens to me bud." He scratched his dragon behind the ear and leaned down to embrace him. "Why does nobody listen to me? Why do I even try at this point?"

He exhaled, straightening up.

"Alright dragon riders," Hiccup called out, "Diamond formation."

The other dragons filed in behind him and took their places. Hiccup looked back at all of them and smiled, then turned his gaze on the younger Astrid.

"You ready for this?" He asked.

She looked hesitant for a moment, then squeezed her arms around him and nodded, a fire burning in her eyes.

"Come one, riders!" Hiccup yelled. "Let's show Drago what dragons can really do!"

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **S.H:**

 **Wow. Everyone is crying for Drago's blood. I know that Astrid has been incredibly stubborn this whole time. I've been trying to keep her as in-character as possible. Sorry if she seems too stubborn. As we go through these next few chapters she'll start to make a dramatic transformation.**

 **333:**

 **Thanks! I'm so flattered! I'm doing my best to keep on time with updates, but bear with me. With the summer ending, life has suddenly become so much more chaotic. I'm somewhat sad that you jumped into this crazy ride right when my schedule became less than kind. Thankfully, the story is close to its close. Not quite sure how many chapters I have left to write, but we definitely passed the halfway point somewhere along the way.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello, everybody!**

 **That's right! It's only been one week! But I've written so much that I feel justified in uploading. My normal updating time is still officially changed to every two weeks (due to my busy schedule), but thankfully I was able to finish this chapter early enough to upload it a week in advance.**

 **I hope that you like it. :)**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD. (Sorry. I ran out of interesting disclaimers a long time ago. . . .)**

* * *

Part 13:

Hiccup slipped off the back of the Time Breaker—careful to adjust Astrid's axe so that it didn't hurt the dragon—and stared up at Viggo Grimborn.

"Thank you." he told the strange, scarred man.

"Well I wasn't going to leave you alone in the forest." Viggo told him matter-of-fact-ly. "You will be a fantastic enemy, Hiccup Haddock. And I have a feeling you'll make an even greater ally. Now I would hurry up if I were you."

"Um." Hiccup laughed nervously, swinging his arms, and he stared up at the man. "What- . . . What is that supposed to mean, exactly?"

The Time Breaker raised its head, sniffing at the air as though it could smell its mate, but Viggo held eye contact with Hiccup.

"You'll want to make your way to the cove sometime within . . . Oh . . . The next twenty minutes, I suppose."

"How could you-"

"I have a time-traveling dragon, Hiccup." Viggo commented, smiley knowingly down at the boy in a conspiratorially pretentious way. "There are an innumerable number of ways that I may or may not have obtained that information. I suggest you follow my advice."

He hummed thoughtfully and winked at Hiccup. "It might just save someone's life."

Viggo tapped his dragon behind its ear canal, and the Time Breaker took off, following the sound of its mate's cries somewhere out on the water.

"Hiccup! My fine, Viking friend!" Tuffnut's voice made Hiccup shiver violently. He flailed his arms in what he was sure was an incredibly un-Viking-ly fashion. To his left, Tuff was peering at the retreating form of Viggo. "Do you know what I would do with a time-traveling dragon?"

"I don't know." Hiccup shrugged, awkwardly eyeing Tuffnut. "Go back and claim your own island or something? Meet Thor? Give tours?"

"Oh," Tuffnut shrugged. "No. I don't know. I was just asking. But I like the tours idea, Hiccup. Very inspired." The Thorston stroked his non-existent beard thoughtfully. "Hmmm. I should hire you. We'll need someone to do Merchanting."

"What's Merchanting?" Hiccup asked.

"It's like this." Tuffnut slung his arm around Hiccup's shoulder and placed his hand out, palm out, as though he were gesturing to something in the sky. "You go to the markets on all the islands, and you hand out posters about the Incredible Thorston Time Breaker Tours."

"Hey, idiots!" Ruffnut's voice called to them from a ways down the cliff-face. "Astrid is riding on a dragon!"

Snotlout's pouting face appeared next to her, followed by a timid Fishlegs.

"Who cares about Astrid?" Snotlout whined. "Clearly the best rider here is _that_ one."

He pointed towards a Monstrous Nightmare. As they watched, the creature shook its head violently, eliciting the frustrated scream of its rider and a few not-to-pleasant Viking swears.

"Right." Fishlegs laughed. "'Best rider.'"

Snotlout shot him a look, and the Ingerman fell silent.

"It's _me_ , you mutton-heads. Of course he's going to be the best rider here!"

Hiccup squinted at the five dragons circling the ship down in the Island's cove. Some of them blasted at the armored dragons in the air. Others whirled and cartwheeled around the deck, blasting it to pieces. Viggo's dragon swooped down amongst them, landing on the deck so he could race to the Time Breaker's side.

And there, zooming past on his Night Fury (his _own_ Night Fury, Hiccup remembered) was Hiccup's older self. And sitting behind him, clutching his waist, was Astrid Hofferson.

"Hey, it's us!" Tuffnut pointed. He gasped in sudden awe at whatever brilliant new idea was swimming through his brain. "It's like I have a twin!"

Fishlegs raised one eyebrow. Ruffnut wound up to punch her brother in the nose.

"Oh, right." Tuffnut amended, after he was done clutching his face in pain. "I already have a twin. . . . But now it's like I have _two_ twins!"

He stared back towards the two-headed dragon that weaved clumsily around the masts of the large ship below them. "Three!" Tuffnut corrected himself. "Three twins!"

"Great." Ruffnut rolled her eyes. "Now I have to deal with _two_ of you."

Snotlout laughed mockingly. "Now you know how the rest of us feel every. day."

"When did they get here?" Hiccup asked.

"When you disappeared suspiciously into the forest with Astrid." Snotlout poked his finger into Hiccup's chest. His tone was accusatory. "And apparently they're here disobeying your _explicit orders_. Not so great a Chief after all, Haddock."

Hiccup rolled his eyes, flinging his hands into the air. "For Thor's sake, Snotlout! This is a life or death situation. You're really going to spend the entire time insulting my performance in a job I don't even have yet?"

"Maybe," Tuffnut spoke dramatically. The other Vikings turned to him. "Maybe Hiccup did it on purpose. Maybe he knew that if he told us not to come, we would disobey his orders, and secretly he _wanted_ us to leave Berk unprotected and fly into an unknown scenario in which we all might die."

Ruffnut laughed and snorted. "Yeah." She and Tuffnut grinned at each other and slammed their helmeted heads together.

Fishlegs squinted at Tuffnut, then looked at Hiccup. "I'm not sure if that was meant to compliment you or insult you."

Snotlout laughed. "No way." Then he paused, staring hard at the Twins. "No . . . Wait. With you two, I can kind of see it."

"Um, guys." Fishlegs pointed down to the beach below them. "Looooook."

Down in the cove, men were clambering onto the beach. Their downed dragons lay exhausted in the sand, weighed down by armor and agitated by the battle. From his position in the sky above them, Toothless gave a loud cry and shot a beam of purple plasma into the clouds above. All of the enemy dragons turned their heads, staring at the Night Fury. Within moments they had abandoned their riders—captors, Hiccup corrected himself—on the beach.

From the boat, Hiccup could see the chained-down Time-Breaker struggling to do something similar. Viggo had been fighting his way across the ship, but had been forced to take off again, likely so that Drago's men couldn't capture the second time-traveling dragon.

But down on the beach, the stranded men were recovering. In one mass hoard, they began to make their way inland.

"Sweet!" Ruffnut called. "I call the one with the hunky shoulders."

Hiccup had never seen someone scamper down a cliff-face so fast. Tuffnut gave a shout and leaped down after her, shouting competitive phrases like "The last one down the cliff has to clean out Great Unckle Druffnut's inventive-but-deadly-concoction cabinet!"

And, of course, the rest of them had to follow.

"Come on." Hiccup sighed. "Let's go make sure the twins don't get themselves killed."

Snotlout snorted. "You go ahead. I'm just coming to laugh at you."

From above them, Fishlegs called down, "This is not what I meant!"

"Hurry up, FishFace!" Snotlout yelled from further down the cliff. "You know there are suddenly a whole lot more wild dragons on this island. Don't want to get eaten, do you?"

"Future-Astrid said that dragons don't eat people!" Fishlegs called back, but Hiccup watched as the Ingerman inched his way down the cliff face and followed after them.

It looked like Viggo had been right, Hiccup noted. One way or another, he was going to end up on that beach.

* * *

When they were somewhere halfway down the cliff side that Fishlegs didn't want to be climbing, Astrid's Deadly Nadder got shot down.

With their faces against the rock, none of the Vikings saw it at first, but they heard Future-Hiccup's call of distress. The cove was on his right, but to his left Fishlegs saw the dragon whirling towards the island. The Nadder appeared dizzy, and its flight stuttered drunkenly as Astrid pulled up on her saddle until the dragon crashed half-heartedly on the grass just outside of the beach-y inlet.

And then Drago appeared, sopping wet and furious, from the waves.

Somewhere from the forest, about twenty feet away from where Astrid was stranded, came the cries of approaching Vikings. The Chiefs of the island had gathered their men and designated portions of the island to patrol, but it had taken them some time to harness the chaos of the moment. No one had missed the younger Vikings when they had snuck off, but Fishlegs had known that the actual fighting warriors would be a little further behind—a fact which may have just doomed Astrid.

The Viking woman put one arm protectively over her unconscious dragon, swinging her axe with the other.

"Climb faster!" shouted Hiccup.

Fishlegs wasn't sure there was anything they could do, and he definitely didn't want to be any closer to Drago Bloodfist, but he understood Hiccup's concern. It struck Fishlegs in that moment how much Hiccup sounded like the son of a Chief.

It didn't matter much now, Fishlegs thought to himself. There was no way they could reach the two in time, and the other Vikings were already on their way. Heading the charge was Stoick. He burst out of the forest and made a rush towards Astrid and Drago, running faster than Fishlegs had ever seen the man run. Fishlegs watched as the enemy Viking knocked the weapon out of Astrid's hands.

Stoick wasn't going to make it in time.

Drago loomed over Astrid.

A shadow covered them, and from above dropped Future-Hiccup. He bore a sword made entirely of fire, and he met Drago's swing with his own.

"Get her out of here!" Hiccup yelled to Stoick, who had come running up behind them. "Go!"

The younger Vikings stared.

Ruffnut practically purred in response to Hiccup's descent out of the sky while brandishing a sword of flame.

"Mmmm Wow." Ruff intoned. "Sexy."

Hiccup coughed in discomfort. If Fishlegs could see the other boy's face, he was sure it would have been bright red.

"Disgusting." Snotlout commented. His nose wrinkled grotesquely as he stared down at Ruffnut's gazing at Older Hiccup.

"I agree, dear Snot-man." Tuffnut called up from below. "I too am disgusted with you, sister. How could you pass up the opportunity for such a perfectly-placed pun? The obvious and correct choice of phrasing was 'Mmmm Wow, Hot.'"

They stared at him.

"Because the fire sword." Tuffnut laughed at his own joke. "See? Just look! Because-"

Snotlout shivered. "There's something wrong with both of you."

"You're only now getting that?" Younger Astrid yelled, flying past them on Toothless who, without a rider to properly work his tail mechanism, was forced to land. Fishlegs watched as the Night Fury fell as gracefully as possible towards the cove.

The cove filled with enemy Vikings.

"Great." Hiccup sighed while Snotlout strutted in an effort to salvage his pried. "I'll go get her. Everybody else, find my dad. And don't get killed."

* * *

Hiccup was somewhat hesitant to give back Astrid's axe. He thought that this was a reasonable fear, all things considered. The last time he'd followed her, she'd looked ready to take his head off with it.

Shockingly, Astrid didn't look entirely angry to see him.

That didn't make her any less terrifying. Astrid gave Hiccup a fearsome glare from behind the shallow portion of cliff-face that was hiding her and Toothless from Drago's forces. She motioned for him to be silent, then reached out for her trusty weapon.

As soon as Hiccup handed it to her, she gave him a thankful smile, and then she punched him.

"What- What was that for?!" Hiccup whisper-yelled with dramatic indignation.

"That was for letting your insane mortal enemy kidnap me."

Toothless rumbled behind them. Hiccup turned to see the dragon eyeing him with a half-lidded stare.

"What, you agree with her?" Hiccup gestured towards Astrid.

Toothless rolled his eyes and huffed.

"Well, that's just great." The scrawny boy raised his hands and dropped them in exasperation. "A giant lizard and a- . . . a crazy, axe-wielding maniac are telling me how to run my life as Chief! A position, may I remind you, that I don't even have yet!"

From over on the beach, someone shouted. "Hey! I think I heard something over there!"

Hiccup and Astrid froze. Toothless gave Hiccup another pointed, deadpan stare.

"Ooooohoohooo. . . . You- you-. Don't you look at me that way, Mr." The boy waved his pointer finger in the dragon's face.

"Get on the dragon." Astrid told Hiccup suddenly, shoving him towards the Night Fury.

"What?!" Hiccup whisper-shouted. "I thought you hated dragons!"

"Not now, Hiccup!" Astrid grasped him by the arms and stared him down with cold, sharp eyes. "Do you want to die here on some stupid beach or get out of this alive?"

"You mean so that I can fall to my death? Ha! Hahahaha ha. I don't think so! I just climbed down a cliff with the Twins and Snotlout. I think I've risked my life enough today."

"You see that?" Astrid pointed towards the raging Vikings invaders groggily rising from where their dragons had dropped them on the beach of the cove. "That beach is the only other way out of here. Unless you want to climb back up the cliff side. Besides, we're not going to fall to our deaths." Astrid dragged him over to Toothless and practically threw him onto the dragon's back. "Because you're going to fly us out of here to safety. You have complete control."

"I- But- I don't know how to fly a normal dragon," Hiccup insisted, "Let alone a dragon with some- . . . some weird tail gizmo thing-y."

"You invented that weird tail gizmo thing-y!" Astrid argued.

"I haven't _yet_!" Hiccup yelled back loudly, throwing his hands up in a show of frustration.

Across the cove, the men turned having heard Hiccup's yell. They drew their swords and began to run down the beach, shouting fearsome, Viking-like battle cries.

"Oh, we're going to die." Hiccup muttered. Astrid climbed on behind him as he floundered for the petal—a device built for an older, taller Viking with a peg leg. "We're going to die, We're Going To Die, We'reGoingToDie!"

Toothless warbled with glee as they shot into the sky. The take-off was a little shaky, but in his mad scramble Hiccup somehow found the right setting, and they glided smoothly through the air, away from the beach.

"You're doing it." Astrid's voice was filled with awe. "Oh my Thor, you're doing it!"

Hiccup became aware of the arms clenched tightly around his waste. His ears reddened and he felt a sense of glee. "I'm doing it!"

Then the meaning of Astrid's words registered in his mind. "Wait a minute. You didn't think that I could do it?!"

Toothless gave off a strange warbling noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Hiccup could practically feel Astrid grinning behind him as the dragon shot a mischievous look back towards the two of them.

"Yeah, Ha ha." Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Pick on the small, scrawny Viking. Very funny, you two."

There was some silence.

"I'm sorry." Astrid spoke after a moment.

"It's no big deal, really." Hiccup laughed nervously. "I mean, we were stuck on a beach with a bunch of crazy murderous Hunters who probably wanted to kill us. What else were we supposed to do."

"No." Astrid's arms squeezed him lightly around the middle. "I mean I'm sorry for suspecting your mother and for insulting you and being angry about everything. It wasn't fair to you or anyone else. I guess I just- I felt a little lost. The future's so different than what I'm used to."

"Astrid, it's okay." Hiccup answered softly, turning his head back slightly towards her. "Nobody expected _any_ of this to happen." He gestured with his hand to the rest of his island, losing his grip for a moment and making Toothless wobble when his foot slipped on the pedal. Hiccup righted them with a little "Woe." He took a breath. "I mean, just look at my dad. I'm pretty sure that if the entire island weren't giving him so much attention, he would have exploded by now. You're a warrior. It's what you do- what you've always done. Me? I guess it took me a little longer to figure out who I was, and in the process I made it harder for everybody else."

"You didn't make it harder, Hiccup." Astrid leaned her head against his back, and he stiffened slightly before relaxing against her. "You made it better. It just took me some time to see it."

"Hey, lovebirds!" a voice called out, and a large dragon swooped down from above them, making Hiccup flail slightly in panic. Toothless wobbled again in the air. The Night Fury growled a little and gave out a huff.

"Is that-" Hiccup began.

"Snotlout." Astrid sounded as though she were rolling her eyes.

"In the flesh." the apparently future-Snotlout boasted, flexing his muscles from the back of a Monstrous Nightmare.

"Oh good." Hiccup spoke sarcastically. "Snotlout riding a dragon. Because we all needed _that_ deadly combination."

"Haha, very funny, tiny-Hiccup." Snotlout sneered in annoyance. "I forgot that you were just as obnoxious when you were fourteen."

Somewhere down below them, a flash of orange caught Hiccup's eye, and he peered down at the figure of his older self, fighting with his fire-sword-contraption. Hiccup wanted to get a better look, but he was struggling to keep Toothless steady. The pedal was obviously made to fit his older self's peg leg (an unexplained detail which gave Hiccup minor concern about his future). But from the Night Fury's back he could see that Drago's troops had joined him on the main portion of the island. Not all of them were stranded in the cove where he and Astrid had left them. Further behind the lines of Chieftains, Valka and Older Astrid were checking over Stormfly's injuries. Stoick and Future-Hiccup fought side-by-side. Drago had retreated back behind enemy lines.

Something unpleasant broiled in Hiccup's stomach.

The feeling disappeared as Astrid's grip tightened around Hiccup's waist and she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek.

"What was that for?" Hiccup asked, somewhat amazed.

"That was for everything you're going to do." Astrid replied.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Snotlout pulled his dragon up closer to theirs. "As great as this Hiccstrid-bonding moment has been, I feel like there are more important things, like, oh, I don't know, the BATTLE going on at the moment."

Hiccup and Astrid turned to stare at him. Snotlout's eyes took on a wicked glint.

The older Viking smiled. "So why don't I show you how to _properly_ fight with a dragon?"

* * *

 **To my Reviewers:**

 **First of all, I just wanted to say that you guys are great. We've reached over a hundred reviews, which I think is awesome. I can tell you that my current fanfiction career is very different from when I started years ago. I was a little nervous about coming back to write again, but all of you have been so wonderful about everything. You've inspired me and given me fascinating new perspectives for this story and about life in general. So thank you all for everything. I'm not sure if I'll write more fanfics after this one is finished, but I do know that it was worth it to come back at least this once.**

 **S.H:**

 **Thanks! I'm glad you like Astrid. As for Drago, I agree. The general Hate-Drago movement is justified. As for Astrid's baby, the pregnancy isn't nearly far enough along for her to give birth during this story, otherwise there would be no way that Hiccup would let her fight. He would probably tie her down. Some crazy things would be happening. I figured that was a little too much drama for this story.**

 **Guest:**

 **I'm so flattered! Also, sorry. There's so much going on right now that a talk between the Astrids just wasn't possible this chapter. In the midst of battle they might have a tough time getting together to talk. But eventually I might have them hash some things out. I know that there's a lot that hasn't been said, but things will work out in the end.**


End file.
